M8.4 Chemical Policy Reform

Our national chemical policies are certainly ineffective. Currently our legislation allows for significant quantities of pesticides and pesticide residue to remain on our organic and inorganic foods. This leads to significant illnesses and decreased quality of life. According to the Louisville Charter for Safer Chemicals, major points include phasing out toxic chemicals and requiring safer alternatives. First, chemicals with high bioaccumulation in the body and slow degradative properties need to be taken off the market and stopped from entering other international markets. Public and private sectors therefore need to be incentivized to research and develop safer alternatives that eliminate the use of hazardous chemicals. Currently, the federal and state level legislation does not push for either of these two major initiatives. The California legislation is vague, and provides for many loopholes to allow dangerous chemicals to continue to enter the market.