Toxic Chemical Policy Reform: Low-Hanging Fruit?

As Congress takes on some major issues, toxic chemical policy reform seems to be one that might be low-hanging fruit. It is a rare thing, when EPA’s principles for toxics reform line up with industry’s principles and environmental advocacy groups'. . . but as with health reform, the devil will be in the details. For example, industry wants to use terms like “safe for intended use” but it is not always the intended use that ends up resulting in exposures. From the laboratory perspective, all sides appear to agree that biomonitoring will play a key role in prioritizing chemicals for assessment. It will be important to take advantage of this opportunity to emphasize the need to build state and local biomonitoring capability.