It’s commendable that defendants in this country are considered innocent until proven guilty, but do we want the same principle applied to the thousands of chemicals that make their way into our homes every day?

Hard as it is to believe, in the United States, government regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted or removed from store shelves. We lack a strong, centralized way of testing chemicals and then sharing the results with the public. Instead, manufacturers are asked to voluntarily stop using chemicals they themselves believe to be harmful.

The opposite policy prevails in Europe where chemicals used in the manufacture of household consumable products must be proven safe before they enter the marketplace. As a result, many American consumers have more faith in the European Union than they do in Uncle Sam, accounting for the popularity of personal care products made in Europe.

Recently, Europe rolled out further restrictions designed to protect the more than 500 million consumers in 27 countries who rely on the European Union to keep them safe. If U.S. companies want to stay competitive and sell products in Europe, they are going to have to do so without using chemicals that are linked to serious health problems, including cancer. In the meantime, they can continue to peddle their potential unsafe wares right here at home!

The trend in the United States among many informed consumers is towards healthier, eco-friendly products. But never-the-less, the U.S. chemical industry and the Bush administration is vehemently opposed to the new restrictions being rolled out in Europe.

The change in the law will require European companies to study the chemicals they plan to use before they begin manufacturing products. Furthermore, information about individual chemicals and the potential problems they pose will be more readily available on the Internet. That way, consumers, scientists, and regulators can all have access to the same information! As it stands now, people who want better information on which chemical are safe must rely on non-governmental consumer advocacy groups.

In the United States, a climate of secrecy has made it surprisingly difficult to regulate chemicals or for consumers to learn about their potential health hazards directly from the government. Since passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, the use of about 62,000 chemicals was grandfathered in. Chemicals developed after 1976, did not require safety tests. Instead, manufacturers were required to submit toxicity reports. The government would then determine if more testing was warranted. Shockingly, since 1976, only 200 of the approximately 80,000 chemicals used by U.S. manufacturers have been studied in detail. And of those 200 chemicals, only FIVE have been banned in over thirty years.

But before you rush to check that the products in your home were made in Europe, be assured that there are a few U.S. manufacturers out there who are passionate about consumer safety and about the well-being of the environment. It just takes effort to find them!