Toxics

Toxics

Toxic waste from industry, hazardous household materials, pesticides and auto emissions are polluting our air and water and endangering our health at home and in the workplace.  More than 80,000 chemicals permitted in the United States have never been fully assessed for toxic impacts on human health and the environment. Cancer, learning disabilities, infertility and birth defects have all been associated with exposure to toxic chemicals. These chemicals have been found in children’s baby bottles and car seats, cleaning products, building materials, cosmetics, fabrics, toys, furniture, electronics, food and beverage containers and many other consumer products.

Cry Wolf Quotes

[Anything beneath the level of 50 parts per million parts per million (ppm) is] uneconomic and all but impossible to meet...[it would be] simply a requirement for liquidation of a major industry.

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The Manufacturing Chemists’ Association (MCA).

the essential thing necessary to safely handle [tetraethyl lead] was careful discipline of our men…[tetraethyl lead] becomes dangerous due to carelessness of the men in handling it.

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Thomas Midgley Jr. vice president of General Motors. 1920s.

If these label requirements are adopted in their proposed form, they will in our opinion destroy large amounts of the industry and eliminate thousands of jobs. and they will do this without any significant evidence that the proposed types of labels are necessary.

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Fred L. Pundsack, Vice president for Research and Development for the Johns-Manville Corporation, the largest asbestos mining company in the world.
03/16/1972 | Full Details | Law(s): OSHA's Asbestos Standard

In summary, then, the proposed regulation could have a very serious adverse impact on my company, an impact which cannot be justified by any demonstrable benefit to our employees, to the employees of our customers, or to the general public.

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Guy Gabrielson, Jr. President of Nicolet Industries, Incorporated
03/16/1972 | Full Details | Law(s): OSHA's Asbestos Standard

Evidence

Backgrounders & Briefs

The Secret History of Lead

This immense article is an intricately detailed history of leaded gasoline, from the industry's early cover-ups to their attempts to defeat EPA regulations.

The Removal of Lead From Gasoline: Historical and Personal Reflections

First-person historical analysis of the leaded gasoline fight.