For 40 years, Toxic Free NC has been advocating for upstream solutions and reform to the laws that govern the pesticides and chemicals we are exposed to every day. We need a stronger, safer approach to chemical safety.

Right now, lawmakers are trying to move in the opposite direction. Draft bill language proposed in both chambers of Congress (House and Senate) would roll back progress on chemical safety. This attempt to rewrite the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in line with industry priorities must be stopped.

The consequences of this bill have far-reaching threats to our safety. Here are a few ways:

• EPA could no longer consider aggregate exposures and risks. Aggregate exposures or cumulative impacts consider the health implications of all the ways people are routinely exposed to harmful chemicals from multiple sources in our everyday life. This bill would make it much harder for the EPA to examine the combined exposure from all the exposure pathways and all the sources that harm our health.

• This law could put a cap on the protections available. EPA would be prohibited to pass any regulation that is “inconsistent with any requirement” imposed by OSHA and other federal agencies. Even if further precaution is needed, EPA would be limited to existing agency requirements, even if they are outdated.

• The bill puts corporations first instead of safety by delaying public health protection for months or years. EPA’s ability to issue rules protecting the public would be on hold until the lawsuits involving corporations.

TSCA is not perfect but it helps to keep us safe. We need reforms that support communities most impacted by PFAS and other toxic chemicals, and the TSCA rewrite does the opposite. By limiting the EPA's ability to regulate new chemicals and making it harder to require chemical testing, weakening TSCA strips us of necessary protections.

Join us in telling Congress: do not weaken our chemical safety protections! Hands off TSCA!! The best way to protect our health from toxic chemicals right now is to not allow this industry backed language to become law.