California launches broad effort to control hazardous chemicals

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two bills that shift the state away from a scattershot approach in which bills targeting hazardous chemicals in products such as jewelry, baby bottles, toys, mattresses, computers and cosmetics have passed or failed depending on the intensity of the lobbying and media attention.

Instead of a product-by-product approach, the new laws are designed to encompass 80,000 chemicals now in circulation, focus on the most dangerous, widespread substances first and control them at the manufacturing stage, before they leach into the air, water or human skin.

The new laws, Schwarzenegger said, propel California to "the forefront of the nation and the world. . . . With these two bills, we will stop looking at toxics as an inevitable byproduct of industrial production."

The so-called green chemistry bills come as public alarm is on the rise over dangerous substances in consumer products. But some experts fear California's efforts will fall short because the laws don't require industry to disclose information on their products' hazards and put the burden of proving harm on the state.

More than 164 million pounds of chemicals are sold each day in California in consumer and commercial products, a figure that does not include chemicals used in industrial processes.

Existing law only allows California to regulate the disposal of chemicals. One bill signed today, AB 1879, sponsored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), lays out a framework to regulate toxics over their life cycle. The second bill, SB 509,, sponsored by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) creates a scientific clearing-house for chemicals' effects.

The governor signed the bills on the factory floor of Los Angeles' Nelson Nameplate, a company that has cut back its use of dangerous solvents. The new laws, he said, would lead to "the most comprehensive green chemistry program ever established."

Michael P. Wilson, a UC Berkeley public health researcher and a leading figure in the green chemistry in California, said the new laws would make California "the first state to put its foot in the water of a modern, comprehensive approach to chemicals policy." But he added that "we have a long ways to go before these proposals will have measurable results."

New laws will be needed to force industry to provide information on chemical use and hazards, he said. Federal law, long criticized as weak by consumer groups, prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from sharing such information with the states.

"California agencies do not know what chemicals are sold in the state, where they are sold, by whom, for what purpose, how people might be exposed or where they ultimately end up in the environment," Wilson said. "This is the same situation for all U.S. states. There are large public health data gaps."

margot.roosevelt@latimes.com