U-M panel: Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act

March 23, 2017
Contact:
  • umichnews@umich.edu

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: Noon-2 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, 2017

EVENT: A panel of national experts will discuss the potential impact of the Trump administration on the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, which amended the Toxic Substances Control Act.

The law, passed last year with bipartisan support, is the first major environmental statute to be updated in more than 20 years. It promises to change how chemicals are evaluated for environmental health hazards.

“Chemicals from consumer products and industrial processes find their way into our bodies as well as our water, soil and air. We’re bringing in national leaders to discuss the implications for research, children’s health, equity and policy,” said Patricia Koman, research investigator at the U-M School of Public Health and associate member of the Michigan Center on Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease.

Speakers include:

  • Gina Solomon, deputy secretary, California EPA
  • Tracey Woodruff, professor, University of California-San Francisco
  • Tala Henry, division director, U.S. EPA
  • Nick Schroeck, assistant clinical professor, Wayne State University Law School

“People are often surprised that most industrial chemicals in our air, water, and consumer products haven’t been tested for safety,” Solomon said. “A new law gives the EPA authority to require chemical testing and to regulate substances that pose an unreasonable risk to health. If the EPA fully carries out the law, improved testing and control of toxic chemicals will give people information and health protection they need.”

PLACE: U-M Palmer Commons, 100 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor

INFORMATION: Free to the public. A livestream will be available.

MEDIA: Available for interviews March 28: Solomon (8:30-10 a.m.); Woodruff, Schroeck, Koman and M-LEEaD director Rita Loch Caruso (3-4 p.m.). Contact Andrea LaFerle at 248-250-2264 or alaferle@umich.edu, if interested.

SPONSORS: Michigan Center on Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease at the U-M School of Public Health and Wayne State University’s Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors. Supported by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.