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
[Removing lead from gasoline] threatens the jobs of the 14 million Americans directly dependent and the 29 million Americans indirectly dependent on the petrochemical industry for employment.
Achieving a standard of [5 fibers] will cost millions of dollars and cause a significant number of American jobs to be shifted to foreign workers. Requiring a more stringent standard and requiring unnecessarily frightening labels can have a catastrophic effects on the very people OSHA’s and the industry are attempting to protect, without really solving the human problem.
They offered dire warning of plant closings, job losses, price increases and massive economic dislocation…One year later not one of the doomsday predictions has proven accurate.
Let me state, first, that achievement of a standard of 2 fibers per cc is not, at the present time, technically feasible in all areas of our manufacturing operations. Thus, I cannot estimate fully the total final economic impact on our business, or the total final capital investment required.
Related Laws and Rules
Evidence
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Applying Quality Criteria to Exposure in Asbestos Epidemiology Increases the Estimated Risk
The government of the Netherlands recently decided that their occupational exposure limit to asbestos was still too high. The Health Council of the Netherlands proposed dropping the limit from .01 percent to .002 percent. OSHA's occupational limit is .1 percent.
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Industry Opposition to Government Regulation
The real costs of specific regulations, in chart form.
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The Going-Out-Of-Business Myth
OMB Watch debunks the cry wolf claims made against specific regulations, in chart form.
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Behind the Numbers: Polluted Data
Almost everyone (including regulators) overestimates the costs of regulation.
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Costs and Benefits of Reducing Lead in Gasoline
The benefits of removing lead from gasoline dramatically exceeded costs.
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.
