The Environmental Working Group, always on its green toes, has released a report showing that nearly 20 percent of the 84,000 chemicals used commercially in the U.S. have been kept secret from the public. Both the names and physical properties of these chemicals are kept confidential even from state officials and within the EPA because an exemption was written into the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act to protect industry trade secrets: public disclosure of information about a chemical is not required if it would affect a company's bottom line. It's a loophole the Environmental Working Group calls, "a regulatory black hole, a place where information goes in - but much never comes out."
The number of secret chemicals now totals about 17,000, many of which are found in everyday consumer products—apparel, plastic products, furniture. At least 10 of the 151 confidential high-volume chemicals (more than 1 million tons produced a year) are used in products targeted specifically to children.
Industry representatives defend the practice of secrecy, saying the spread of information jeopardizes competition within the industry, and it is true that many of the chemicals are harmless. But as the Washington Post notes, 65 "substantial risk" reports were filed with the EPA in March, and over half of those involved secret chemicals.
Planet Green
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