WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On the heels of a new government (GAO) report detailing the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) inability to protect in mothers, children and workers from potentially hazardous chemicals due to legal hurdles, lawmakers introduced legislation today to take the cuffs off of the EPA. United States Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), joined by a mother-to-be and a former administrator of EPA's toxics' office, held a news conference to announce the bill which would, among other things, force chemical manufacturers to provide health and safety information on chemicals used in consumer products like baby bottles and food wrapping instead of presuming a substance is safe until proven dangerous. Senator James Jeffords (I-VT) coauthored the legislation with Lautenberg.

"Every day, Americans use household products that contain hundreds of chemicals. Most people assume that those chemicals have been proven safe for their families and children. Unfortunately, that assumption is wrong," said Senator Lautenberg. "We have laws to make sure that pesticides and medicines are safe -- but we fail to require similar analysis for the chemicals used in baby bottles, water bottles, food packages and thousands of other products. This is inexcusable."

"Study after study has shown we have dozens, if not hundreds, of synthetic chemicals in our bodies, yet we have very little information about how they impact our health. The Kids Safe Chemical Act will for the first time require that the chemicals our children come in contact with each day are properly tested and reviewed. It is time to hold the chemicals in our consumer goods and household products to a higher standard, and fully understand their effect on our bodies," said Senator Jeffords.

The Child, Worker and Consumer Safe Chemicals Act responds to the growing body of scientific reports which have identified dangerous chemical exposures from the use of certain plastic products, including baby bottles and food wrapping. These reports list this exposure as a factor in the rise of disorders and diseases such as birth defects, asthma, neurological and developmental disorders, infertility and certain types of cancer.

The failure of EPA in its efforts to protect public health is a result of statutory restrictions imposed by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). TSCA's procedural requirements are so daunting that, in 29 years, only five toxic substances in existence when the law passed, have been regulated by EPA.