EPA gets new powers to regulate toxic chemicals, but progress takes time

With new evidence surfacing almost weekly about how Americans are absorbing hormone-disrupting chemicals  sometimes merely from sitting on a sofa or drinking from a plastic cup — the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is getting sweeping new powers to regulate toxic substances in furniture, toys, electronics and household products.

Legislation sent this month to President Barack Obama for his expected signature will give the EPA more authority to order safety tests for chemicals and set deadlines for the agency to determine whether dangerous compounds should be restricted or forced off the market. The EPA also will be required to take additional steps to ensure pregnant women, children and other vulnerable populations are protected.

But even in the best-case scenarios envisioned by lawmakers who backed the unusual bipartisan compromise, it will take the EPA more than a decade to determine the fate of a few dozen chemicals the agency already has identified because they are suspected of posing significant health hazards.

For instance, though the EPA knows people are regularly exposed to certain flame retardants and studies show the widely used chemicals are harmful, it could take at least seven years under the new system before rules are in place regulating their use. Chemical companies could get another five years to comply with regulations.

See More @ http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-toxic-chemicals-epa-met-20160620-story.html