New TSCA Requirements Raise Challenges To EPA Biotech Review Staff

The revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which changed the way EPA reviews the use of chemicals in commerce, is also creating new challenges for EPA scientists reviewing applications for new commercial uses of microorganisms and new organisms for research activities, as the agency seeks to determine which uses can be "foreseen." TSCA's definition of chemicals includes engineered microorganisms -- tiny, single-celled living organisms at the center of the nascent rise of biotechnology. A National Academy of Sciences report last...