Lynn L. Bergeson and Joseph E. Plamondon, “TSCA and Engineered Nanoscale Substances,” Nanotechnology Law & Business, March 2007.
The federal law that regulates new and existing chemical substances, including engineered nanoscale chemical substances, is the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). While there is much debate over how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should deploy its significant TSCA authority to address potential risks to human health and the environment posed by engineered nanoscale materials, there is no doubt that EPA is already doing so. This article provides a general overview of TSCA as it relates to new and existing chemical substances, and discusses how EPA may go about discharging its significant TSCA authority with respect to engineered nanoscale substances.