What health effects can be linked to the mixtures of industrial chemicals found in the human body?
Beyond a handful of chemicals, the answer is not known. The reason: there is no legal requirement to test most chemicals for health effects at any stage of production, marketing, and use. Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), chemical companies can continue making chemicals and putting new compounds on the market without conducting any studies of their effects on people or the environment. Some companies conduct rudimentary screening studies prior to production, but fewer than half of all applications to the EPA for new chemical production include any toxicity data at all. The government approves 80 percent of these applications with no restrictions, usually in less than three weeks. When data are provided, they are typically cursory in nature, because the government lacks the authority to request anything more than that. Eight of 10 new chemicals win approval in less than three weeks, at an average rate of seven a day. If there are no data, the government justifies approval w
