The Alliance indicates that more troubling is that "these pharmaceuticals represent just a fraction of the chemical contaminants that make up what some researchers look upon as a vast chemical soup stretching from Minnesota to New York." The study reports that many emerging contaminants are found in the Great Lakes today, among them flame retardants, modern pesticides, pharmaceuticals, the antibacterial and antifungal agent Triclosan, and the insect-repellent DEET. The now-notorious bisphenol A (BPA), commonly used in a wide variety of plastics such as baby bottles and food packaging, was found in more than half the water samples analyzed in all the studies to date.
The report, Emerging Contaminant Threats and the Great Lakes: Existing science, estimating relative risk, and determining policies, says there's too little data from the lakes and not enough understanding of the effects of these emerging contaminants. "What is known, it concludes, is worth worrying about." Dr. Rebecca Klaper, Shaw Associate Professor at the Great Lakes WATER Institute in Milwaukee and lead author of the report said, "Exposure to some of these chemicals . . . is cause for consternation for people and concern over fish and wildlife impacts."
The Alliance is calling for legislation to reform the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the 1976 law from which EPA derives its authority to require reporting, record-keeping and testing of chemical substances. Among the needed reforms they are calling for: Grant the EPA administrator the ability to act immediately on chemicals we know are dangerous, such as persistent and bioaccumulating toxics, asbestos and formaldehyde; Require chemical manufacturers to provide basic information on the health and environmental hazards associated with their chemicals, and grant the public full access to information about a chemical's safety; and Ensure chemicals meet a standard of safety for all people -- including children, pregnant women and workers.