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Module 8.4 Chemical Policy Reform

The Louisville Charter for Safer Chemicals is a platform to create a safe and healthy environment by providing fundamental reform to current chemical policies needed to protect to protect children, workers, communities, and the environment. Any reform must “Act on Early Warnings” this is to prevent harm when there is credible evidence that harm is happening or will happen, even when there is not enough evidence to prove the exact nature or level of harm. Background Paper #4 outlines two conditions to establish the threshold for protective action in the presence of scientific uncertainty:
1.     Credible evidence that a synthetic chemical can cause biological changes that are known to result in unintended harmful outcomes to human health or the environment in some cases.
2.     The presence of such a chemical where it does not belong and where it can cause damage to biological systems (such as human bodies).

This charter reform focuses on taking action when credible evidence is available that a synthetic chemical can cause biological changes and when the chemical is present where is should not belong (e.g. human bodies, wildlife, fish or ecosystem). This is a preventative measure to establish chemical policies that regulate the production and transmission of chemicals that can cause harm even if scientific certainty has not been proven. There can harm reduction in acting early until science catches up to prove the harm with certainty. This charter reform also includes the monitoring of the chemical presence and effects in the real world after the full safety-testing regime is in place. It’s important to continuously monitor synthetic chemicals to understand it’s lifespan and effects on the well-being of humans.

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