Is Your Couch Trying to Kill You? [View all]

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) Imagine if government officials knew that certain chemicals were hazardous enough to cause health problems as serious as cancer and neurological defects, yet were largely powerless to restrict them.

That, in a nutshell, is the state of chemical regulation in the U.S. On paper, the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate or ban toxic substances. In practice, the agency faces so many hurdles that it hasn’t tried to do so since it made an ill-fated run at asbestos in 1991.

More than two dozen states are nobly trying to fill the regulatory void. But Washington cannot abdicate its responsibility to protect public health. U.S. lawmakers should move swiftly to give the EPA true power to assess and regulate risky chemicals.

The agency’s inadequate oversight of flame retardants, as revealed in a recent series of articles in the Chicago Tribune, illustrates the perils of weak federal rules. These chemicals are used in everything from couch cushions to televisions to airplanes, ostensibly to lower the risk of fire. However, the flame retardants most often used in such products are largely ineffective. They exist mainly because the chemical industry has pushed them aggressively. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-24/is-your-couch-trying-to-kill-you-.html