Protecting cancer-causing chemicals is not good for small business

Since when is protecting cancer-causing chemicals good for small businesses?

That is one of the arguments Congressional supporters of an effort to defund the annual “Report on Carcinogens” (ROC) are making.

The ROC is produced by the National Institutes for Environmental Health Science. The NIEHS does not test the chemicals.  It reviews scientific literature from academic, government and some industry studies to produce the ROC for information only. The ROC can be used by industry as a guideline for choosing safe chemicals in their consumer products and by the public to know what chemicals to stay away from. The ROC does not stop a business from using any chemicals.

The major push to defund the ROC seems to be coming from the formaldehyde chemical producers.

You might be asking, “Who would put formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals in consumer products?” 

Apparently a lot of companies.  They just don’t usually list them on their products because they aren’t technically “ingredients”.  But they are in the products.

The ROC has specifically listed formaldehyde as a carcinogen and the corporations producing the chemical, like Koch Industries and its subsidiary Georgia Pacific, have struck back with PAC campaign contributions to Congressmen like Representative Denny Rehberg who sponsored the budget amendment to defund the ROC for two years.

The corporate carcinogen-chemical-producing companies should be concerned about the ROC.  Environmental and consumer groups have put pressure on companies like Johnson & Johnson, Estee Lauder Companies, Procter & Gamble, Avon and L’Oreal to stop using toxic chemicals in their products.

This week, Johnson & Johnson became the first of such companies to declare that it would stop using formaldehyde in all its products by 2015.  The company had previously promised to remove other toxic chemicals in baby products by 2013.

Without the government’s ROC, the public would be left in the dark in these matters.  Even better than this transparency would be actual regulations prohibiting cancer-causing and other toxic chemicals from all consumer products.  But in today’s political environment, this kind of common sense won’t fly.

This is why the ROC is so important.  While public pressure might cause chemical manufacturers some money to develop safer chemicals, the ROC is certainly not hurting small businesses.   No small business-owner wants to put the health of customers, workers and his/her own family at risk.  We sell the products that are available and we want them to be safe. 

In addition the ROC also is a guide to small businesses that don’t want to use toxic chemicals in the products they make.   Letters from small chemical and consumer product manufacturers and the American Sustainable Business Council have been sent to Congress in support of funding of the ROC. 

Below are the addresses and fax number of the appropriate members of Commerce if you would like to weigh in on this issue.  Hurry!

The Honorable Daniel Inouye Chairman Senate Appropriations Committee S-128 Capitol Building Washington, DC 20510 (fax 202-224-6747)	The Honorable Thad Cochran Ranking Member Senate Appropriations Committee S-146A Capitol Building Washington, DC 20510 (fax 202-224-9450)
The Honorable Tom Harkin Chairman Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education & Related Agencies Appropriations Room 131 Dirksen SOB United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 (fax 202-224-9369)	The Honorable Richard Shelby Ranking Member Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education & Related Agencies Appropriations Room 156 Dirksen SOB United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 (fax 202-224-3416)
The Honorable Harold Rogers Chairman House Appropriations Committee H-307 Capitol Building Washington, DC 20515 (fax 202-225-0940)	The Honorable Norm Dicks Ranking Member House Appropriations Committee 1016 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (fax 202-225-9476)
The Honorable Denny Rehberg Chairman Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education & Related Agencies Appropriations Room 2358 Rayburn HOB U. S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 (fax 202-225-5687)	The Honorable Rosa DeLauro Ranking Member Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education & Related Agencies Appropriations Room 1016 Longworth HOB U. S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 (fax 202-225-4890)