Republican House bill guts laws protecting US consumers from toxic chemicals

Source: the guardian


Bill limits type of science used to determine health risks and gives industry major role in chemical review process

Tom Perkins Tue 10 Feb 2026 08.00 EST

A new Republican House bill proposes sweeping changes to US toxic chemical laws that would gut protections for consumers, workers and the environment, public health advocates mobilising against the legislation warn.

Among other changes to the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), the bill would limit the type of science that is used to determine health risks, stop legally requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure chemicals won’t harm people, give industry a prominent role in chemical review processes, and make it more difficult legally for the agency to ban toxic substances.

Congress in 2016 strengthened TSCA and the bill, drafted by Republican Alabama congressman Gary Palmer, would reverse many of those changes. Industry has been attacking the law for the last nine years and is seizing an opportunity to attempt to gut it with the GOP fully in charge of the federal government, said Daniel Savery, an attorney with the Earthjustice legal nonprofit, which is among hundreds of groups organizing against the proposal.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/10/toxic-chemical-laws-republican-house-bill

I would say, if they would harm only themselves, this is their problem. But they are harming everyone. No one could hide from toxic chemicals in the atmosphere. And all the rich people in their bunkers will see, how bad there lives will be in a destroyed environment.

— (@sanneru.bsky.social) 2026-02-10T13:16:59.221Z