Scientists, health advocates warn Senate TSCA overhaul could put children at greater risk

Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).

A group of over 30 scientists, health professionals, and public health advocates is urging the Senate not to weaken the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a move they say will put children in harm’s way from toxic chemicals and pollutants.

In a letter sent Monday to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), the group, known as Project TENDR (Targeting Environmental Neuro-Development Risks), expressed concern that scientific and health voices are being sidelined when it comes to America’s chemical safety law, putting children’s health at risk. 

In March, Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released a draft discussion bill aimed at loosening TSCA with the goal of faster federal chemical reviews. The proposed changes align with industry concerns around the law, which gives the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate new and existing chemicals.

The letter urged the Committee to hear from children’s health experts before marking up the bill. 

“It is critical that the committee hear from stakeholders on the range of harmful impacts, particularly on children’s development, of any potential TSCA amendments,” they wrote. “Until now, members have heard primarily from industry lobbyists and their trade associations whose focus has been on weakening TSCA.”  

This week’s letter comes a month after 250 organizations representing public health professionals, scientists, consumer advocates, and environmental advocates also sent a letter urging EPW to reject industry-led efforts to re-open TSCA.

Originally enacted in 1976, Congress passed a bipartisan overhaul of TSCA in 2016. 

The 2016 amendments allowed EPA to review chemicals before and after they entered the market, and emphasized the protection of vulnerable populations such as children, pregnant women, workers, and fenceline communities.

Despite past bipartisanship in Congress around TSCA, support for the current law now falls along party lines — with Democrats expressing a desire to leave it intact or strengthening it, and Republicans saying the law in its current form is harming US competitiveness in the chemical marketplace. 

The draft bill by Senate Republicans proposes to change definitions and language in the EPA’s chemical program to reduce the evidence burden for chemical manufacturers to prove chemicals won’t harm people. 

For instance, the draft changes the requirement that a chemical ‘‘will not present any unreasonable risk’’ to ‘‘is not likely to present an unreasonable risk.’’ Further, it narrows what’s considered a chemical’s “conditions of use,” which, critics say, prevents the EPA from considering potential unforeseen impacts of a chemical.

Meanwhile, the EPA had already proposed its own set of rollbacks in September 2025 that critics said would weaken safeguards to protect people from toxic exposures. 

“There is no upside for children’s health if TSCA is reopened. The outcome will certainly be more toxic chemicals in kids and greater harms,” said Maureen Swanson, founder and director of Project TENDR.

Rashmi Joglekar of the Health and Toxics Policy Lab at Stanford who also signed the letter, said in an email that “if TSCA is weakened, EPA would have an even harder time making sure that new chemicals are safe before they enter the market.” 

“Rolling back requirements now would mean fewer studies examining health effects like neurodevelopment, which raises the odds that brain‑harming chemicals end up in everyday products,” she added. 

Swanson said that with a weakened TSCA framework, the onus will fall on families to protect their children from exposure to toxic chemicals. “The science is really clear and strong that these toxic chemicals are hurting children’s health and should not be in products,” she said. “It’s not up to people and parents to figure out if there are toxic chemicals in the products they buy. That burden should not be on American families.”

Project TENDR argues that members of Congress have heard primarily from industry lobbyists whose focus has been on weakening TSCA. 

In a March letter to Senate leaders, chemical industry groups expressed support for the proposed changes in the draft bill and a TSCA that is “properly resourced, does not impede or create unnecessary barriers to technological innovation while avoiding unreasonable risks of injury, and supports growth in our manufacturing sector.” 

Joglekar said that TSCA already provides pathways to prevent the harms of toxic chemicals before exposures occur, and it just needs to be implemented better by EPA. 

“Instead of reopening and weakening the statute, Congress should focus its efforts on strengthening EPA’s implementation of TSCA to offer protections now against preventable harms to children’s brain development.”

Featured Image: Featured image: Getty Images For Unsplash+