TSCA Reform – Implications for the Workplace

Chemical hazards affecting the general public are often first identified through the experience of workers. Examples include the pesticide DBCP, which causes male sterility; the food additive diacetyl, which causes the fatal lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans; and the carcinogen vinyl chloride. In fact, workers have been the study population for the majority of epidemiological investigations identifying chemical carcinogens. TSCA reform should therefore consider workers to be a vulnerable population, not because of greater sensitivity to harmful chemicals, but because of higher and earlier exposure. Of course, OSHA and MSHA also have regulatory authority over workplace chemicals, so a reformed TSCA should be compatible with the OSH Act and the Mine Act.