The University of Michigan M-LEEaD Center is co-sponsoring an event to mark the 5-year anniversary of the bipartisan legislation called the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. This reform law was designed to modernize U.S. industrial chemical policy to promote health, but has it lived up to its promise?

Public understanding is limited regarding how exposures to toxic chemicals affect health and how they might be regulated. Unlike pharmaceuticals, industrial and commercial chemicals are rarely tested for safety before they reach the U.S. market. The 1976 TSCA has been widely acknowledged to be a weak and ineffective law, and widespread exposures and harms continue. In the U.S., everyone is exposed to industrial and toxic chemicals, dozens and probably hundreds – well before birth. The amount of chemicals manufactured and imported continues to grow – it is trillions of pounds – and these chemicals remain largely unregulated. At the same time, we have seen an increase in chronic diseases, such as diabetes, autism, and infertility. Not everyone is equally at risk, and a higher burden of disease falls on low wealth communities and communities of color. These health disparities in exposures and health effects are illustrated and exacerbated by COVID.

The amended TSCA gave the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency new requirements and authorities. The public health impact points to the need for the U.S. EPA to fully use its new powers to evaluate all risks from hazardous chemicals and set policies which protect health and are accountable to high-risk communities. Preventive actions are urgently needed.

Watch “THE FOREVER CHEMICALS” documentary (2019, 26 min) at Great Lakes Now then join the March 16 forum. https://www.greatlakesnow.org/fc
“The Forever Chemicals” is an Emmy-winning examination of the impact of PFAS contamination in west Michigan
communities.

LEARN MORE AT OUR LIVE VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION (registration required) on March 16 with Sandra Svoboda, “The Forever Chemicals” co-producer and Great Lakes Now Program Director; Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, Professor, Ob/Gyn, Reproductive Sciences, University of CA-San Francisco; and Justin Onwenu, Environmental Justice Organizer, Sierra Club. Moderated by Patricia Koman, MPP, PhD, Research Investigator, Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan with Welcoming remarks from Gilbert S. Omenn, MD, PhD, the Harold T Shapiro Distinguished University Professor of Medicine (also Professor of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics; Internal Medicine; Human Genetics; and Public Health, Univ of Mich).

REGISTER HERE https://bit.ly/37I2JaU

SPONSORED BY the Michigan Center on Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease (M-LEEaD) • U-M Environmental Health Sciences • Detroit Public Television • Wayne State CURES Center • U-M Sustainable Living Experience • UROP (U-M Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program) • UMIHSA (U-M Industrial Hygiene Students Association) • EHSA (Environmental Health Student Association) • American Chemical Society Outreach Organization • U-M Health Policy Student Association • Ecology Center • Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition • UCSF Program for Reproductive Health and the Environment • UCSF EaRTH Center