Listers,
I wish to assess the veracity of the statement: "There are many tens of thousands of chemicals in use, but only a small percentage have been tested for toxicity. "
With regard to "toxicity" the IARC has listed 121 chemicals as known carcinogens (although this, of course, is not the only form of "toxicity" that affect humans.) RTECS (
What
is the Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances? - Definition from Safeopedia ) tallies 150,000 chemicals in the list formerly known as the "Toxic Substances List". Their methodology suggests that some "toxicity" testing has occurred the chemical
on this list but there is no connection to the NTP list.
Using these numbers in various combinations, one could conclude that the phrase "small percentage" is the original quote above is "pretty fair" or "entirely unfair". Complex situations often should not be reduced to a single statement
and, at the very least, if the original quote is accurate it should be accompanied by some explanations.
I would welcome from the group some insights about a "fair" statement about "chemical exposure" and the degree to which we have determined the toxicity within that group.
I will end with Monona's title from her book:
Pick Your Poison: How Our Mad Dash to Chemical Utopia is Making Lab Rats of Us All.
Dave
David C. Finster
Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry
Wittenberg University