An Act in Time

It isn 't the pox that menaces us any more, or the plague. It's strange new creatures of our own making, and they are all around us--in the air, our water and food, and in the things we touch.

--Russell Train, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Thousands of Americans are already suffering the grim consequences of excessive exposure to such chemicals as asbestos, vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which can--and too often do--cause metabolic disorders, birth defects or even cancer. But now there is hope that many others may be spared such agonies in the future. Calling it "one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation to come out of Congress," President Ford last week signed into law a bill that requires premarket testing of new chemicals.

In the past, chemicals were almost always assumed to be innocent until proven guilty. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reverses this presumption. Under TSCA, chemical manufacturers are required to give the Environmental Protection Agency at least three months' notice before beginning commercial production of a new chemical or before marketing an existing chemical for a new use. If the EPA sees no risks, it can simply give the chemical company the go-ahead sign.

But if the EPA considers the chemical potentially dangerous--or feels that its hazards have been insufficiently analyzed--it can act to keep it off the market. The law allows the agency to issue an order prohibiting or limiting production of the chemical either indefinitely or pending further testing. If a manufacturer objects, the agency can obtain a court injunction simply by showing that the substance in question has not been adequately tested.

Good Start. Environmentalists had hoped that Congress would impose even more stringent regulations, but TSCA is considered a good start. The Manufacturing Chemists Association believes that the nation's chemical companies can live with the new regulations. However, the expense to industry will be high; the association's estimates range from a low of $360 million up to $ 1.3 billion. An EPA estimate of $143 million was considered 30% too low by the General Accounting Office.

Whatever the cost, the need for control is obvious. In addition to the 2 million man-made chemical compounds that already exist, scientists develop an additional 25,000 new ones annually. Of this huge total, at least 1,000 a year are put into production and thus into the environment.

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