"Why Congress Can't Fix Our Crazy Chemical Safety System"

"How broken is the nation's chemical-safety system? Of the 80,000 or so chemicals currently used in commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency has only tested 200 since Congress gave the agency its marching orders nearly four decades ago. And of the 200 tested chemicals, only five have been banned or regulated.

That porous safety net comes courtesy of a law that everyone—from doctors to industry groups, Democrats to Republicans—agrees needs fixing. But despite a bright start on a reform bill and the best of intentions this term, it's taken just 12 months to go from bipartisanship to bickering, and what was once a promising push for chemical-safety reform may stall in its tracks."

Jason Plautz reports for National Journal May 1, 2014.