Some EPA measures are not measuring up

No one disputes that we should be mitigating the effects of carcinogen-laced chemicals.

While many communities know the United States Environmental Protection Agency for its work to protect our environment, fewer know of the processes it has implemented for the creation and use of new chemicals.

The chemicals that undergo this process touch everything from our countertops to our children’s toys.

However, under the current administration, EPA appointees are now destroying the protections previously put in place.

Under these new changes, the EPA will no longer require manufacturers that want to produce new, potentially hazardous chemicals to sign legal agreements that restrict the use of these chemicals under certain conditions.

If the agency deems the risk associated with the chemical “reasonably foreseen,” then no consent order will be necessary.

This is an obnoxious assumption being made in regard to public safety.

While almost all parents of children use chemicals for cleaning and disinfecting, the overwhelming majority do not take the time to read every ingredient and understand fully the potential risks of those chemicals for themselves and their children.

The EPA is supposed to be a safeguard for the people, by the people.

Communities around the United States want a guarantee of safety from every manufacturer that produces harmful chemicals.

Those in favor of a more rigorous process by which these chemicals are scrutinized should maintain a strong and vocal presence in the fight against this deregulation.

Joseph Wittman

Mentor