Chemical and Toxins
Use of chemicals is regulated under a number of federal acts, most notably the Toxic Substances Control Act. Through this legislation, EPA has the authority to require that companies report, keep records of, and meet testing requirements and restrictions relating to chemical substances and mixtures.
Of late, the agency has embarked upon an effort to make chemical processes more transparent. In August 2010, it made TSCA data available to the public, allowing anyone with Internet access to search for more information about the chemicals under the law’s purview. In addition, EPA also recently made public the formulations of more than 150 chemicals that were previously kept confidential for business reasons.