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"When Trump first assumed office in 2017, the agency was preparing to publish a report on the toxicity of the chemical. But one of his EPA appointees, who was g
by Jimmc414 2y ago
"When Trump first assumed office in 2017, the agency was preparing to publish a report on the toxicity of the chemical. But one of his EPA appointees, who was given a high-ranking role in the agency's Office of Research and Development, was a chemical engineer who had worked to fend off the regulation of formaldehyde as an employee of Koch Industries, whose subsidiary made formaldehyde and many products that emit it. The report was not released until August 2024, long after Trump's appointee left the agency."
- metalman 2y agoIf you dig deeper, you will find that a large number of chemicals and products, started off as byproducts of primary production of one thing or another. Finding and establishing new markets for what was waste, has proven to be rather profitable and the motivation to protect those profitable substances from scrutiny is huge, and here we are with any number of poisons and toxins maintaining legal status, many decades after they were known to be harmfull. The biggest hope for the general public, is that modern chemical knowledge and technical capacity is allowing for further processing many "feed stocks" into less harmfull, and more profitable substances. Which is why you see "sunseting" or grace periods, that protect the current profits untill the new industtry can scale up.