Leaders of California's chemical companies gathered Wednesday in Los Angeles to discuss how best to respond to growing pressure to develop a new state policy that would provide the public more protection from toxic compounds in consumer products and the environment.
The chemical industry forum was spurred by a University of California report, released to the state Legislature in March, that advises California to adopt a comprehensive policy because the public is inadequately protected from toxic compounds that are amassing in people's bodies and the environment.
John Ulrich, a senior consultant to the Chemical Industry Council of California, called the report a "call to action" for businesses and urged them to act now to help craft a state strategy for regulating chemicals. About 100 industry representatives, from industrial giants such as Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. to small biotech firms, attended the forum.
However, chemical company representatives at the meeting expressed mixed feelings about California charging ahead.
"We all agree with the mission" to move toward safer chemicals, said Martin La Benz of Spectrum Chemicals & Laboratory Products in Gardena. "The question is, can we execute it workably?"
He said he was worried that it could lead to a misguided policy and a "burgeoning paper flow" that would just move chemical production to other countries, such as China.
The discussions about California taking the lead in chemical policy come at a time when several dozen bills regulating chemicals are before the Legislature, many scientists are voicing concerns about various compounds in everyday consumer products and Europe is about to adopt a revolutionary law regulating chemicals.
People are exposed to hundreds of chemicals in consumer products and in the environment, some of which have been linked to cancer, reproductive damage or altered hormones. Many chemicals are known to accumulate in human tissue, and many can cross into the womb and build up in breast milk.
About 80,000 chemicals have been registered in the U.S., and roughly 15,000 are in use. Although new chemicals are required to undergo thorough testing, federal law does not require chemical companies to review potential hazards of the thousands of compounds in use when the law was adopted in 1976.
