Most people probably assume that man-made chemicals get tested for safety.
After all, the EPA, with its huge bureacracy, has been successful over the years in banning pernicious substances like PCBs. The reality is that a majority of the 75,000 industrial chemicals that are in everyday use have not even been tested for basic health effects like cancer and toxicity, according to a detailed study conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund. And many chemicals have never been tested for neurotoxicological or developmental effects that these substances could pose to humans and the environment. The EPA has just recently started to address the issue of testing endocrine disrupting chemicals. First, all new chemicals pass under the agency's nose in the form of premanufacture notices, which are filed by the companies that produce the substances.