/Home /Policy & Advocacy /Chemical Policy Regulatory, Institutional, and Market-Based Approaches Towards Achieving Comprehensive Chemical Policy Reform
by Kristen Welker-Hood, DSc, RN, Marian Condon, MSN, RN, and Susan Wilburn, MPH, BSN, RN
“The purpose of this article is to inform nurses and other health care professionals about the nexus between the environment and health and present approaches in which they can be involved so as to support comprehensive reform of chemicals management in the United States. It discusses the health impact of hazardous chemicals and the environmental regulatory failures within the U.S. to protect the public. It also reports on international chemical management initiatives and key elements of chemical policy reform that can guide the U.S. regulatory, market-based, and institutional-based approaches to a comprehensive, chemical policy reform. The role of nursing in advocating for these reforms will be presented.”
http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume122007/May31/ChemicalPolicyReform.aspx American Nurses Association 2006 Resolution: Nursing practice, chemical exposure, and right-to-know.
“The American Nurses Association advocates a course of action both nationally and globally and through the nationwide state legislative agenda that reduces the use of toxic chemicals requiring that less harmful chemicals be substituted whenever possible; supports labeling and full disclosure mechanisms; demands adequate information on the health effects of chemicals and chemicals in products before they are introduced on the market; creates more streamlined methods for chemicals to be removed from use;…”
www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/OccupationalandEnvironmental/environmentalhealth/PolicyIssues/ChemicalExposureandRighttoKnow.aspx Toxic Substance Control Act
“The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 was enacted by Congress to give EPA the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States. http://www.epa.gov/Region5/defs/html/tsca.htm The Promise and Limits of the United States Toxic Substances Control Act
By the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production
“Despite the years of debate over TSCA and great hopes that it would help eliminate a substantial gap in regulation of toxic substances, its implementation has been less than successful, particularly for existing chemicals. In implementing restrictions on the manufacture or use of toxic chemicals the EPA has an extremely high burden to act under TSCA resulting in few chemical restrictions. To restrict such chemicals EPA must prove that the chemical “will present an unreasonable risk”, that it is choosing the least burdensome regulation to reduce risks to a reasonable level, and that the benefits of regulation outweigh the costs to industry. EPA must do this on a chemical-by-chemical basis.
http://www.chemicalspolicy.org/downloads/Chemicals_Policy_TSCA.doc Not That Innocent: A Comparative Analysis Of Canadian, European Union And United States Policies On Industrial Chemicals
by Richard A. Denison, PH.D.
Environmental Defense USA, in cooperation with Pollution Probe, April 2007
“A Comparative Analysis of Canadian, European Union and United States Policies on Industrial Chemicals" provides—for the first time—a comprehensive comparison of the European Union's new REACH regulation with existing policies in the United States and Canada that govern industrial chemicals.”
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/6149_NotThatInnocent_Fullreport.pdf Green Chemistry in California: A Framework for Leadership in Chemicals Policy and Innovation
By Michael P. Wilsonwith Daniel A. Chia and Bryan C. Ehlers
“By 2050, California’s population is expected to grow by about 50%, from 36 to 55 million residents. This expansion will be accompanied by a growing set of social, economic, and environmental problems whose magnitude will be determined in large part by the policy decisions California makes now and in coming years. In charting a course to a sustainable future, policymakers will need to guide industrial development in such a way that it fully integrates matters of environmental quality and human health. In practice, if California is to create a future characterized by improving social, environmental, and economic conditions, industrial development will need to solve, not exacerbate, the public and environmental health problems facing the state today. To move California in this direction, policymakers need the support of research that links the science of public and environmental health to innovative policy solutions. This report serves that purpose in the area of chemicals policy.”
http://coeh.berkeley.edu/FINALgreenchemistryrpt.pdf International Treaty on the regulation of persistent organic pollutants (POPS)
“The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). POPs are chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms and are toxic to humans and wildlife. POPs circulate globally and can cause damage wherever they travel. In implementing the Convention, Governments will take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment.”
http://www.pops.int/ The Wingspread Consensus Statement on the Precautionary Principle
“The release and use of toxic substances, the exploitation of resources, and physical alterations of the environment have had substantial unintended consequences affecting human health and the environment. Some of these concerns are high rates of learning deficiencies, asthma, cancer, birth defects and species extinctions; along with global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and worldwide contamination with toxic substances and nuclear materials. We believe existing environmental regulations and other decisions, particularly those based on risk assessment, have failed to protect adequately human health and the environment - the larger system of which humans are but a part. We believe there is compelling evidence that damage to humans and the worldwide environment is of such magnitude and seriousness that new principles for conducting human activities are necessary. While we realize that human activities may involve hazards, people must proceed more carefully than has been the case in recent history. Corporations, government entities, organizations, communities, scientists and other individuals must adopt a precautionary approach to all human endeavors. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the Precautionary Principle: When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof. The process of applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of alternatives, including no action. “ http://www.sehn.org/wing.html |
American Nurses Association adopts precautionary approach:
“EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This report provides background information and direction for the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) environmental safety policy formation and advocacy through a precautionary approach that focuses on prevention of hazards. The precautionary principle states that if it is within one’s power, there is an ethical imperative to prevent rather than merely treat disease, even in the face of scientific uncertainty. The ANA Board of Directors adopted the precautionary approach in October 2003.”
www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/OccupationalandEnvironmental/environmentalhealth/PolicyIssues/PrecautionaryApproach.aspx Body of Evidence: A study of pollution in Maine People
The Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine
Maine people are polluted with dozens of hazardous industrial chemicals, according to a new study conducted by the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine with help from the University of Southern Maine. In 2006, thirteen Maine men and women volunteered to have their bodies tested in the first ever study of chemical pollution in Maine people. This study found a total of 46 different chemicals (of 71 tested) in samples of blood, urine, and hair. On average, each participant had measurable levels of 36 toxic chemicals in their bodies.
http://www.cleanandhealthyme.org/Campaigns/TheMaineBodyBurdenReport/tabid/55/Default.aspx Last Updated: 08/29/2007 at 07:48:04 PM
|
