EPA veils hazardous substances

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency routinely allows companies to keep new information about their chemicals secret, including compounds that have been shown to cause cancer and respiratory problems, the Journal Sentinel has found.

The newspaper examined more than 2,000 filings in the EPA's registry of dangerous chemicals for the past three years. In more than half the cases, the EPA agreed to keep the chemical name a secret. In hundreds of other cases, it allowed the company filing the report to keep its name and address confidential.

This is despite a federal law calling for public notice of any new information through the EPA's program monitoring chemicals that pose substantial risk. The whole idea of the program is to warn the public of newfound dangers.

The EPA's rules are supposed to allow confidentiality only "under very limited circumstances."

Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/36514449.html

[Cirque du So-What]

1. I see the Chimp is keeping himself busy during his final days in office

I propose giving him a title for the history books: Emperor Chimpolini - Enemy of the Earth and All Who Dwell Upon It.

[Grinchie]

2. They don't even label Paint anymore

I promised myself to spray pain an old rusty toolbox I bought at a flea market, so I went to Home Depot to buy a well known brand of Spray Paint -- DeRusto.

Derusto has been around forever, and I have used it in the past for restoration projects where I knew that I could not repaint in 5 years.

In the "Old" days, you could read the label and it would list the percentages of the materials, such as Zinc Chromate or whatever compound that they use to prevent corrosion. This usually would be a tiny percentage, when compared to the "Inert Ingrediants" which are the solvents that are used to carry the paint in suspension.

Well, it appears that the labeling requirement are so lax now, they don't even bother to put the main constituents in the paint anymore.

You basically have to take their word that they are providing rust corrosion, as there is no mention of any ingredients that would do this.

Of course, they loudly announce that the product contains Toluene, Xylene and other VOC's, and that they will kill you, Cause Brain Damage or Cancer, but when it comes to the ingredients that will live on your toolbox, Handrails, or whatever for the next 20 years your SOL.

You are basically buying a can of "Paint, Not Otherwise Specified (NOS)" Suitable for Graffti and as a prop for a movie production. This was not limited to Derusto brand -- All the paints on display have done away with ingrediant lists.

Instead of tried and true formulas that have been around for decades, we have now devolved into a Brand slapped on product cranked out by outsourced subcontractors, and insulated from accounability by three layers of Corporate subsidiaries.

In the end, I decided to not paint by tool box. Although it can be dirty, a light coating of rust can be a form of protective surface as well. Plus, a $4.00 can of paint equates to 20% of the caost of the toolbox, which has been around for almost 60 years, and contained 10 Handsaw's which were included.

Corporate America has lost it's way, and they think that the Consumer is dumb enough not to notice the destruction in quality, accountability and price.

Paint is pretty nasty stuff as it comes from Corporate America, and the new trend of not labeling it is about as bad as Corporate America not labeling GMO Ingedients in our food. They don't like labeling, becoause it immediately links them to their toxic product and accounability to any damages they might be liable for.

[Lorien]

3. Anything for a buck. Profit is our corporate overlord's only God

they don't care about our lives, they only care that we consume as much as possible while we still live.

[Baby Snooks]

4. The worst of the carcinogens are in our bathrooms...

Just what they do list on the shampoos, the soaps, the hair sprays and the assorted products we use every day are scary enough. People are now realizing there are other chemicals as well. In minute amounts that don't have to be listed. Even the "hypo-allergenic" and "natural" products are loaded with carcinogenic chemicals. They make us smell good, look good, make our skin nice and soft. And they are killing us.

Then you add the chemicals in the carpets and the "natural" wood floors, especially the ones treated to "repel" termites, the latex paints, just as dangerous as lead-based and oil-based paints, the "anti-bacterial" soaps and cleaning products which are producing "anti-bacterial resistant" bacteria as well as the "ordinary" soaps and cleaning procucts including laundry detergents that add a little bit of "fresh air" via chemical scents, the water that comes out of the taps we cook with, and bathe with, and all those lovely plastic containers in our cabinets and refrigerators that "leak" chemicals into everything inside of them. The list goes on and on.

Then you get into food. Anything that has "preservatives" probably has preservatives that are not listed on the labels. Because they are in minute amounts. But as a general rule, if they have preservative listed, they have preservatives that are not listed. Even bread is suspect.

We have extended our life expectancy from 50 to 70, on average, in this country as a result of "advances in medicine" but we those advances are beginning to lose ground to the diseases caused by our "conveniences."

I always have to laugh at the "non-smokers" who demand "clean air" by restricting smokers to the back alleys who of course then spend their weekends, and sometimes their weekdays, jogging along our city streets. Exposing themselves to far more carcinogens from the "clean air" than if they smoked four packs of cigarettes a day.

A lot of that pollution is the result of our need for the things in our bathrooms. Petrochemical plants produce far more than just gasoline.

Does anyone realize that when they rub Vaseline onto their dry skin they are rubbing refined crude oil onto their dry skin?

The same with "glycerin" which is the miracle that allows miracle skin products to work their miracles. There is glycerin and there is vegetable glycerin. The difference is the price. I worry about "plant-derived glycerine" simply because of the way our government "protects" us. How do we know it's not "petrochemical plant-derived?"

We need to learn to follow the money trails at the polls. And we need to learn to read the labels in the grocery and drug stores.

[quidam56]

5. We are determined to destroy our world at any cost...

Appalachia is a toxic third world waste dump. http://www.wisecountyissues.com And third world standards of acceptable health care.

[DogPoundPup]

6. Only to a point ....

:sarcasm:

[Gman2]

7. The sons bitch gave me heart failure.

BPA in plastics was not disclosed until three weeks ago. As they are leaving office. Evil FUCKS! They should be rotting in jail already.

[Muttocracy]

8. the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been doing great environmental reporting

I hope they can keep it up.

[Wednesdays]

9. K and R nt

[lonestarnot]

10. Fix it! More jobs!

[OneBlueSky]

11. one of Obama's critical tasks will be cleaning up the EPA, FDA, SEC, FEMA . . .

and all the other "regulatory" agencies that are supposed to protect the public but, in BushCoLand, protect corporations doing illegal things . . .