Facilities Making Listed Chemicals Are Mapped

A new report shows the geographic distribution of U.S. facilities that produce or import chemicals that EPA, states, or the European Union have identified as potentially problematic because of health or other concerns. These facilities are strewn across the country, showing that substances listed by regulators as hazardous chemicals permeate the U.S. economy, says Richard Denison, senior scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund. The advocacy organization compiled the report using publicly available data that chemical manufacturers provided to EPA in 2012 as required by regulation. The 120 substances selected for the report are also targeted by a broad campaign seeking their removal from consumer products. That campaign, run by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a coalition of health and environmental groups, sponsored a take-back day for certain products sold by retailer Walgreens that contain those compounds.