We’re working to change the way that chemicals are regulated so that the most dangerous ones don’t wind up polluting people, food, drinking water, and communities. We are also advancing new approaches to regulation that are prevention-based, driving the safest solutions and ensuring the existing laws are working to protect people and the environment.

To change the chemical safety landscape at the federal level:

We educate policymakers from Congress to the Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Defense
We publish scientific research that shows the impact of harmful chemicals and pollution on people and wildlife, particularly the most vulnerable
We build grassroots power and partnerships to compel the federal government to act

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Our Priorities

EPA: Ban these dangerous chemicals!

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plays a pivotal role in protecting public health from dangerous chemicals by using the tools in the reformed 2016 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). It’s Toxic-Free Future’s job to watchdog and prod implementation of this law and to extract as much benefit for public health and the environment as we can.

EPA: Expand Safer Choice

The Safer Choice label on a product assures consumers that each ingredient has been evaluated for its hazard and the most dangerous chemicals like PFAS, phthalates, and formaldehyde are prohibited. To meet the growing demand for safer products, EPA must dramatically expand Safer Choice to include products like cosmetics, personal care products, and formulated building products that often contain highly hazardous unregulated chemicals like PFAS that threaten our families’ health.

A woman standing in a store looking at haircare products

Congress: Ban toxic food packaging!

The Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act of 2021 is a bipartisan bill that would ban the use of toxic PFAS in food containers and cookware. This legislation would help to prevent further pollution by prohibiting food packaging that contains intentionally added PFAS in at the federal level.

Take Action

Tell the White House:

Expand the Safer Choice program!

Learn more about the Safer Choice program

Tell Congress:

Ban toxic food packaging

Learn more about our PFAS in food packaging campaign

Impact

Our federal policy program was established in 2009 to fix the federal law for regulating chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). By organizing a coalition of hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals called Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, we convinced Congress and President Obama to reform the law in 2016. While the final bill wasn’t what we’d hoped for, it was still a major victory for public health in a time of federal policy gridlock.

Since then, our work has prompted:

EPA to ban deadly methylene chloride-based paint strippers for consumer use
The Consumer Product Safety Commission to take action on toxic flame retardants in consumer products from electronics to mattresses
Congress to begin to address the PFAS pollution crisis caused in part by the military’s use of toxic firefighting foam

Learn more about the reform of TSCA and how the law is being implemented.