Who is officially protecting us?

[Bercado]

In the US, who is responsible for safety regarding chemical products such as pesticides, industrial lubricants, cleaners, etc.?
Is it the EPA or some other government agency?
And what items fall under the agency(s).

I’m just looking for a general list such as: “The FDA is in charge of food, and the EPA is in charge of…”

[MELOC]

i think it is all split up depending on the concern. the epa for enviro concerns, the fda if it pertains to food etc.

[Laura]

Officially, I am the one protecting me and my family.

Why would you think the fox in the hen house is there to protect the hens?

[rambler]

I'd say mostly the EPA. They weigh uses vs benifits, and alternatives available, and short & long term studies, and publicopinion.

Then they come up with guidelines on how these products need to be stored, how they need to be used, etc.

FDA deals with things we are supposed to put in/on our bodies.

EPA deals with stuff that we put on other things.

--->Paul

[seedspreader]

Who is officially protecting us?

I am, but I am on vacation, leave me a PM and I will get back to you.

[haypoint]

Good question. I think that when you find a list of what all the EPA and FDA do, you'll be suprised at all the different areas that they cover. I was suprised to find my state's Department of Agriculture was in charge of so many things. They inspect Pet Stores, Animal Shelters, Race tracks, Greenhouses, Nurseries, including every place that sells potted plants, including every Wal-Mart. Every commercial dairy, orchards, Christmas tree farms and poultry houses. They check livestock feed to insure it has the protein stated and ingredients are legal and weights correct. The insure every gas pump in the state is correct, no small task. Recently, we've been plagued with an Asian beetle that kills Ash trees. This department has had crews surveying the entire state identifying this pest and removing the trees that are harboring it. Several crews do TB checks on cattle in the area known to have had TB. Others monitor cattle at several Livestock Auctions. They licence, test and monitor captive deer herds. They inspect firewood, logs and rough sawn lumber to prevent the spread of the Emerald Ash Beetle. They inspect commercial fish hatcheries, vineyards and operations that sell food/vegetables wholesale and retail. They test and licence pestacide applicators. They inspect all fairgrounds and livestock shows. When Katrina hit, many employees went to New Orleans to treat sick and injured animals, gave vaccinations and feed displaced pets. Lots more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[tinknal]

I was formerly employed in the asbestos abatement industry. This is just a partial list of who had their noses in our biz; EPA, OSHA, NIOSH, MN PCA, MN dept. of health, MN OSHA, US dept. of health............................I think there were 14 different agencys in all.

[moonwolf]

Originally Posted by Bercado

In the US, who is responsible for safety regarding chemical products such as pesticides, industrial lubricants, cleaners, etc.?
Is it the EPA or some other government agency?

If it's in the workplace, it may fall under OSHA (occupational health and safety) which may play a part with any of the other agencies which primarily would seem to be EPA and/or FDA for the item categories you mentioned.

[minnikin1]

Originally Posted by Bercado

In the US, who is responsible for safety regarding chemical products such as pesticides, industrial lubricants, cleaners, etc.?
Is it the EPA or some other government agency?
And what items fall under the agency(s).

I’m just looking for a general list such as: “The FDA is in charge of food, and the EPA is in charge of…”

According to Debra Lynn Dadd, author and consumer advocate regarding chemicals and toxins in the home, unless a chemical is regulated as a pesticide, medication or food product, it is up to the consumer to prove a chemical is harmful. It is not up to a manufacturer to prove it is safe.

When you consider all the thousands of chemicals out there, and add all the possible COMBINATIONS of chemicals that could never be tested even if they tried - you see that no one is responsible and therefore it is no wonder we have the cancer and other diseases that we do.

[haypoint]

minnikin1, you aren't calling for more regulation are you? I thought you wanted less government regulation/inspection/control.
You think there's not enough checks on chemicals, investigate how little oversite there is on imported fish. Eew...

[sapphira]

The Law protects us. But then we have to trust that everyone follows the law. And that the enforcement is in effect.
I trust that you will drive on your side of the street and stop at that stop sign. Because it is the law. You swore when you got your license, you would uphold the law. Police are out there to enforce the law, unfortunately as population grows, cars become more numerous, there is not enough police to enforce. The expression "don't get caught" takes on more meaning by the day. As to hazardous substances, there is a special license for that, etc. S.

[MELOC]

Originally Posted by haypoint

minnikin1, you aren't calling for more regulation are you? I thought you wanted less government regulation/inspection/control.
You think there's not enough checks on chemicals, investigate how little oversite there is on imported fish. Eew...

who regulates "sour grapes" ?



some an example of my statement is a can of spray lubricant. if it is to be used in incidental contact with food in a processing plant, it needs to be approved by the FDA. the disposal of the container may have environmental impacts so it probably needs to be disposed of following EPA guidelines.

another would be the plant itself. the plant processes food and needs approval for it's practices from the FDA and state and local agencies regulating food production. if the plant uses ammonia for refridgeration, the EPA probably has a say as to how it is to be handled for fear of environmental impacts.

[minnikin1]

Originally Posted by haypoint

minnikin1, you aren't calling for more regulation are you? I thought you wanted less government regulation/inspection/control.
You think there's not enough checks on chemicals, investigate how little oversite there is on imported fish. Eew...

Hmm, I eat a lot Moroccan anchovies. I guess Darwin will get me soon.

I don't advocate more regulation. I do think the American public would be horrified to know how little oversight there is regarding the products they bring into their homes, and even use on their bodies.
Most of these chemical producers rely on the fact that their dangerous products sicken and kill at a slow rate, so as long as you can't "pin" it back on them - it's going to be sold to you.

Sapphira, your comments are a good case in point. Most Americans believe there is some "law", but there aren't many.

On the other hand, there ARE lots of labeling laws, and even though many products state right on the package how dangerous they are, Americans, as a rule, don't even read it.

I was fortunate enough to read Debra Lynn Dadd in the early 90's. We eliminated chemical and synthetic products from our home as much as we could. It took many years to replace it all with natural, safer products, and we're still working at it.
SE Johnson and their ilk don't get to make any money on us.

Why do you ask the question, Bercado?

[Jeff54321]

No one is protecting you. All the aforementioned agencies are there to ensure ever increasing corporate profits at the expense of your wallet, your health and your life.

[arabian knight]

There are Many governmental agencies protecting you not one is under one hat.
So there is no clear cut answer as Many do and they do a very fine job of it also.

[boonieman]

Originally Posted by minnikin1

According to Debra Lynn Dadd, author and consumer advocate regarding chemicals and toxins in the home, unless a chemical is regulated as a pesticide, medication or food product, it is up to the consumer to prove a chemical is harmful. It is not up to a manufacturer to prove it is safe.

When you consider all the thousands of chemicals out there, and add all the possible COMBINATIONS of chemicals that could never be tested even if they tried - you see that no one is responsible and therefore it is no wonder we have the cancer and other diseases that we do.

I work for a major chemical company and I believe they pretty much deserve their poor reputation as a result of past misdeeds. However, the above statement isn't totally true. It takes alot to introduce any new chemical. MSDS sheets(Material Safety Data Sheets) have to be available for each of these chemicals. And for anybody who thinks the EPA is lax, that's not been my experience. The satement about the combinations of the chemicals and unpredicatable results of these combinations is pretty accurate.

[Bercado]

Well, the reason I was asking was just the other day my Dad had this can of Loosy Goosy, (heavy duty lubricant) and he was applying it on a pipe that was rusted. The pipe happened to be part of the water system, and so I was upset to see him doing this. I read the label and it says that it is believed by the state of California to cause cancer. Apparently in California they are concerned about not getting cancer.

Anyway, I was thinking that people here might know something that would put my mind to rest. My strategy at present is to, whenever possible, go with what I know is safe and avoid the stuff that might not be.

A few years back I had little regard for these kinds of things. I’d use WD40 on everything, washed paint brushes in gasoline with bare hands, used a hell of a lot of fly spray on the cows. We used the Dairy Cattle Dust stuff on the garden to control pests. I would often get my hands coated in grease and oil for a whole day while working on machinery, and I would also even drink cheap soda (now I have heard that several off brand sodas have been poisoning people.)

Some other “things that might not be okay for us” that come to mind are:
GM foods
Milk produced from cows on strange feeds and hormones
Roundup chemicals that are necessary for the “Roundup Ready Bean”
Ingesting plastic fibers
All of the medications that are just released and warn you of a gazillion side effects
Medium used to store and deliver vaccinations to children
Dentists that tried to take my wisdom teeth (I kept them and use them all the timeJ

Just recently we have learned that the hormones that women are given during menopause are correlated with breast cancer.
Seems like the consensus though is that your best bet is to just avoid these things. I’m not willing to leave protection up to government agencies (I’m sure some do a lot of good) and market pressures, so this is my strategy.


So, how about like Minikin1 was saying, we make out a list here for alternative products.