Toxic chemicals are poisoning us… what’s being done to stop this injurious behavior using tax reform?What are the issues surrounding the use of toxic chemicals?BibliographyCheryl DierschPA 395September 29, 2004Literature ReviewToxic chemicals are poisoning us… what’s being done to stop thisinjurious behavior using tax reform? “The time may soon come when our spiritual journeys may become blocked by the sheer inability of our bodies and minds to join in. The reason: insidious poisoning bytoxic chemicals. How are the effects of these toxins manifested in the body and mind? Itis estimated that 60 to 80 percent of all cancers are a direct result of chemicals in our air, water and food. Further, neuroscientists are now studying the role of environmental toxins in the development of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer and Parkinson's diseases, and in mental/behavioral disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder.” (“The Celestine Journal”)What are the issues surrounding the use of toxic chemicals? Many people are suspicious of the role toxic chemicals play in our food, air and water and the cancer rates still are not explained. According to a current report by the US Global Change Research Information Center (GCRIC), “Death and illness can be associated with the quality of the environment, yet a fraction of all deaths in the U.S. areassociated with environmental conditions, such as air and water quality and chemical hazards. “ We, as individuals, are learning about investigating reports regarding Gulf War illnesses that confirm the health risk of low-level exposure to chemical agents currently being burned in incinerators. Studies reveal links between breast and prostatecancers with “hormone-mimics” that are chemicals our bodies mistake as human sex hormones such as estrogen. The symptoms of poisoning from today's pollution may come on more slowly due to a gradual build-up and most toxins are colorless and odorless, making sensory detection impossible.1The U. S. Global Change Research Information Center (GCRIC) reports regularlyabout the consequences of toxic chemicals on nature and implications of environmental change. In a current GCRIC journal titled “The Environment Since 1970” reports on global health, nuclear waste, urban air pollution, waste disposal and materials use. Following is an excerpt from the journal…“As many people worry less about survival and acute and catastrophic conditions, they think more about chronic exposures and rare illnesses. Remarkably environmental pollutants in air, water, soil, and food and how these may be changing know little in any country about actual and cumulative human exposures.” Kim Nelson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of the Environmental Information said, “This ignorance bedevils ongoing debates about chlorinated compounds, breast and other cancers, electromagnetic fields, and a host of other concerns.” Most agree that clean lakes, rivers and air are essential for environmental health as well as critical for the health of mankind. In 1989 the EPA’s National Report on Toxic Release Inventory, announced that 1.9 billion pounds of chemical were dumped into thewater systems of our nation and that 2.4 billion pounds of chemicals were released into the atmosphere. The total chemical bombardment on the environment was estimated at 5.7 billion pounds for one year, not to mention almost 50 million pounds of toxic chemicals buried in our landfills, rivers and lakes. If the use of chemicals continues to be ignored, emissions into the air and water will grow and affect the environment beyond nature’s threshold as evidence in “Brownfields” or “Super fields.” However, nothing is changing with the use of chemicals. “It doesn’t take a giant leap of logic to realize that we could soon be in such a state of toxic poisoning that we would be unableto ‘problem-solve’ our way out.” (CJ)2Simply adding up tons of different chemical pollutants is like comparing apples to oranges and the sheer volume of it all is staggering. There are tens of thousands of chemicals being used today. These chemicals are injurious to the environment and our health during manufacturing, transport, and in the disposal of waste from these hazardous chemicals. In the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments passed by Congress identified 189 pollutants as "hazardous air pollutants," but today there are still no emission fees on these pollutants. Implementing tax reform, like all reforms, will be gradual and slow.Yes, banning the use of hazardous chemicals will solve a number of environmental problems and we can start by setting emission quotas on the polluting substances. However, it will take heightened public awareness through political action to see global, regional and local changes. Quotas, bans and standards have to be agreed upon at a high level of governance and bringing politicians, corporations, individuals and legislature together is often arduous and difficult, especially when voting is crucial. The EPA originally designed a report back in the 80’s to inform communities about toxic substances released by their industries as a "right to know program" yet today it fails on its integrity due to self-monitoring. In June 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported that environmental groups questioned the accuracy of an annual Environmental Protection Agency study on toxic pollutants. The Washington-based Environmental Integrity Project said, “measurements taken by state agencies in Texas showed that carcinogenic chemicals such as benzene and butadiene given off by oil refineries and chemical plants may be four to five times the levels reported by the EPA.” "This happens because most pollution is estimated and not monitored," said Kelly Haragan, a lawyer for the Environmental Integrity Project. She said, “the 15-year-3old Toxic Release Inventory Report run by the EPA allows companies to file estimates of their release of toxic pollutants instead of using data from monitoring instruments.”We have a high degree of uncertainty inherent in many of our governmental systems, reports, studies and chemicals and since there is a reasonable certainty of harm that exists, decisions need to err on the side of protection. My review shows the necessity for change in our current rationales to regulate our health and environment. Jurisdictions around the
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