US regulation demands proof of harm before restricting industrial chemicals

Evidence

Approximately 60,000 industrial chemicals commonly used in the United States have never been tested for their effects on humans. In our country, safety tests are undertaken only when a chemical is suspected to be harmful. But even then, definitive findings are elusive, and it sometimes takes years or even decades of expensive research for them to emerge. Meanwhile, the standard of proof demanded by the industries that use and disseminate these chemicals is sometimes so high that masses of people suffer their effects in the time it takes to sufficiently prove their harmfulness. — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 35

Categorization

• corroborated: 404 independent passages support this claim — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 35
• XREF: connects to: Tens of thousands of US industrial chemicals remain untested for human harm — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 35; Convergent correlational evidence should justify action absent perfect scientific certainty — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 50; Erring toward banning suspect chemicals is far less costly than erring toward permitting them — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 1033 (+1 more)