Eco-tip: When the state stopped playing a ‘high-stakes game of chemical whack-a-mole’

Ventura County Star  –

Lead has been banned from gasoline and paint, asbestos is no longer allowed in most types of building materials and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are no longer added to commercially produced food.  So you may think anything dangerous is quickly controlled by government agencies and could never pose a risk in the diet or consumer products of the average American.  Karl Palmer, acting deputy director of the Safer Consumer Products branch of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, said,  “The truth is, what we used to do was like playing a giant, high-stakes game of chemical ‘whack a mole.”  Here’s how California has changed the process.