For most of my career, I have worked for the chemical industry in some form or another. Having a minor in environmental studies from the progressive geography department at UCLA, this wasn’t always a comfortable fit for me. But having spent countless hours with toxicologists, industrial hygienists and biochemists over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the significant amount of science that is conducted or supported by the chemical industry. They know a lot about their products’ properties, the fate of those products in the environment and their effects on organisms both simple and complex.

They do not, however, do a very good job at grasping the concern that people feel about exposure to chemicals. We may be living longer, healthier lives than at any point in human history, but this is hardly reassuring to the one person who is concerned that one molecule may have leached from one plastic bottle and will someday compromise their child’s health. And it is beyond the ken of the industry’s reams of scientific research to address an individual’s particular concern, which is why the industry is perennially playing defense.

Last week the Senate had the first of what will be many hearings on chemical safety as the nation’s primary chemical regulation gets updated this year. Lawmakers heard from physicians, mothers and others who are concerned about exposure to chemicals. One gets the sense from the testimony that there is no acceptable amount of uncertainty about chemical exposures. But science will never be able to address those questions with absolute certainty.

So where does that leave the industry? From my view, it’s time for the industry to shed its defensive posture and start talking to people about their concerns and their ideas for addressing those concerns. The industry needs to find a way to have a conversation about its products without just pointing to a study and that being the end of it. The industry knows that chemical regulations need to be reformed. But it shouldn’t assume that it has all the answers about how to get the job done.

Tags: biochemists, Chemical industry, chemical regulations, chemical safety hearings, industrial hygienists, toxicologists

Posted by Elizabeth Curwen on 02/8/10. Categories: Blog, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.