Number Of State Laws On Chemicals Grows

In the past eight years, states have increasingly passed laws to restrict the use of chemicals or promote greener substances, a report from Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families says. The organization, a coalition of businesses and environmental, health advocacy, and parents groups, wants Congress to reform the federal law governing chemical production. But in the absence of congressional action to rewrite the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), states are moving, the report says. The coalition found that 18 states have collectively passed 71 chemical laws since 2003. Nearly half of these laws target specific chemicals, including bisphenol A, cadmium, lead, or polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants. Other state laws promote greener cleaning products or green chemistry, ban phthalates in children’s products, or call for reduced industrial use of toxic chemicals. Noting that the growing patchwork of state laws vexes many chemical producers, the coalition calls for states to continue to pass legislation and “drive the chemical industry to accept meaningful reform” to TSCA.