Legal Planet
MAY 29, 2024
This post was originally published on the Law & Political Economy Blog as “How Environmental Law Created a World Awash in Toxic Chemicals.” Indeed, the PFAS disaster points once again to the failure of our laws regulating toxic chemicals, which were intended to avoid just these sorts of problems.
Union of Concerned Scientists
AUGUST 22, 2023
This is not just conjecture; this situation happened before with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in the 1970s and 1980s—highly toxic chemicals that were banned by the EPA in 1979. Dow’s argument was that the ban did not apply because what they were manufacturing could not be defined as PCBs (even though they were).
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Environment, Law, and History
MAY 6, 2022
Melosi, Carolyn Merchant, Roderick Nash, Adam Rome, and Paul Sutter, among many others—Coodley and Sarasohn offer here an exhaustive play-by-play account of the legislative battles between 1964 and 1976 that led to the passage of some of the most important environmental laws in the United States.
Union of Concerned Scientists
SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
Carson’s book also helped prompt the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, the main law that regulates chemicals today and requires the testing of new chemicals for safety.
Environmental Science
SEPTEMBER 7, 2018
What is Environmental Law? Humanity has been aware of its environment far longer than there have been laws to protect environments. However, the term “environmental law” does not just cover government legislation. These are not “laws” per se but act as such within a regulatory framework. Sponsored Content.
Vermont Law
DECEMBER 19, 2018
explores the weak chemical safety laws, agency capture, and chemical industry influence behind this regulatory blind spot. Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. law mandating safety assessments for potentially toxic chemicals, like dry-cleaning solvents and paint strippers; and eliminating two programs. The Devil We Know.
Legal Planet
MARCH 14, 2023
The legal and political responses to the accident have been predictable. One thing we have learned over the last half century of environmental law is that nearly all supposedly safe exposure limits for hazardous substances have been reduced as new evidence has documented that harm occurs at lower exposures than previously believed.
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