News Release

ACC Comments on Senate Biomonitoring Hearing

ARLINGTON, VA (February 4, 2010) - Today, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health heard testimony regarding the state of the science and public health aspects of human biomonitoring.   Highlights of ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley’s statement, submitted for the hearing record, are below (full statement attached):

“ACC and its members welcome Congress’ review of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the measures that might be taken to improve the statute.  One of the cornerstones of modernizing TSCA is the principle that collectively we must harness the advances made in science and technology over the past three decades to develop a comprehensive law that puts the safety of the American consumer first, while promoting the innovation that will lead to the development of essential new chemical products and new high-paying American jobs.  Human biomonitoring is one such powerful, advanced technology.

“With this technology we can measure even minute amounts of chemical exposures.  But, as lawmakers consider the use of biomonitoring data in chemical regulation, it is important to remember that biomonitoring does not provide any information about the source or effect of those exposures.  As the Centers for Disease Control has said, the mere presence of a substance in the body does not mean that it causes effects or disease.

“ACC is optimistic that advances [in interpretation of biomonitoring data] will eventually make biomonitoring information even more useful in efforts to modernize the U.S. chemical regulatory framework.  However, given the current state of the science, it is not appropriate to base policy and regulatory decisions solely on the fact that a substance has been detected in the human body.  ACC looks forward to continued discussions with members of Congress around modifications to TSCA.”

Learn more about TSCA and biomonitoring.