AB 289: Chemical Testing Requirements

Posted on Aug 17, 2010 | Comments (1)

In the fourth story of our ongoing series, "Independence from Toxic Chemicals," Ryan Berghoff describes California's AB 289 from 2006. 

Every year more than 55,000,000 pounds of all chemicals are released in the state of California. There are over 85,000 chemicals that are commercially available today, and many are known to cause cancer, damage the brain, or disrupt the nervous and reproductive systems. Analytical test methods only exist for approximately 30 percent of all chemicals, and thus there is a large body of chemicals that remains completely untested. In order to test these numerous chemicals, laboratories within the California Environmental Protection Agency must use millions of taxpayer dollars to develop detection methods for finding chemicals in the air, water, soil, and human body, placing a significant financial burden on Cal- EPA. That’s where AB 289 comes in.

BACKGROUND

Introduced by Wilma Chan, AB 289 is a bill that passed in 2006 which authorizes DTSC (Department of Toxic Substances Control) to seek information from chemical manufacturers and importers about what happens to their materials, how they are transported, analytical information, and other data about a chemical or class of chemicals that might be needed to understand how Californians might be exposed to chemicals. Before AB 289, Cal-EPA had to test all the chemicals that were rapidly being introduced and sold commercially, while the manufacturers blindly continued to produce more chemicals without determining their safety. 

In the interests of human health, it should be the responsibility of those who manufacture or import a chemical to provide relevant information, rather than putting the burden of determining their safety solely on Cal-EPA.

In order to understand how safe a chemical is, Cal-EPA needs information regarding test methods, how those chemicals are transported into the environment and how their bioaccumulation affects human health, which should all be provided by manufacturers who already have this data. This bill forces chemical manufacturers to release information that they have about test and detection methods on the chemicals that they produce, making Cal-EPA’s job more efficient, allowing them to better protect Californian’s health. This legislation will save the state millions of dollars by shifting the financial costs from Cal-EPA to the industries producing the chemicals. 

HOW IT WORKS

DTSC is focusing on chemicals that are already in use commercially and where they need more information on analytical methods, toxicity, and/or the fate and transport of the materials into the environment (how the chemicals are released into the environment and what affect they have on the environment and human health). The first step that DTSC takes in gathering information from chemical manufacturers is to make a general request for voluntary information provided by the manufacturing companies. Once the information is obtained, DTSC establishes what additional information is required to determine the safety of the chemicals being investigated. DTSC can then make a formal request for the additional data which includes: the physical and chemical properties of the chemical, the fate and transport of the materials, and all other relevant information (i.e. toxicology data). 

The bill requires that the manufacturer must provide the requested information within one year. AB 289 is a great friend to the public’s right to know: the transparency provisions of the law require that information submitted under the act be availabe to the public unless a court decides that such public transparency violates state trade secrecy law. If a member of the public would like access to information submitted to comply with the act, he or she submits a request to DTSC. If that information is not contained in a public record and has been claimed as a trade secret by the manufacturer, the manufacturer then has 30 days to get a court order to keep DTSC from releasing information to the public. 

AB 289 IN ACTION

The first focus of the bill from DTSC is the production and safety of nanotubes. Nanotechnology is an up-and-coming field that many people believe holds promising breakthroughs in many scientific inquiries. However, many people are also worried about the safety of using the new science. Nanotechnology has already been used in creating stain resistant clothes, stronger materials, and even in some cosmetic products. DTSC is working to determine whether or not Nanotechnology is safe for human health and the environment, and AB 289 allows DTSC to gather reliable information from manufacturers without burning wads of cash or consuming indispensable time. DTSC will then use this information to help identify and prioritize chemicals of concern. Following the inquiry on carbon nanotubes, DTSC is expected to seek information on other nanomaterials, methyl siloxanes, and brominated flame retardants. They have chosen these chemicals because they are already used heavily commercially, but information regarding their safety and affect on the environment and human health is still unknown. 

AB 289 will also play a large part in implementing the new Green Chemistry Initiative regulations AB 1879 (safer alternative regulation) and SB 509 (toxic information clearinghouse). Using AB 289 to obtain information from manufacturers regarding the safety of their chemicals will allow DTSC to make more informed decisions when identifying and prioritizing chemicals of concern (AB 1879) as well as disclose a greater amount of information to the public via the Toxics Information Clearinghouse (SB 509).

Ryan Berghoff is a recent graduate in the Society and the Environment program at the University of California Berkeley and is an intern at the Center for Environmental Health.