When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) wants an overhaul of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The organization says the policy overseeing chemical safety doesn’t adequately protect pregnant women and children from chemicals such as the plastic additives bisphenol-A and phthalates and adhesives (which tend to be polymers).
The 35-year-old act has been criticized in recent years by federal and industrial groups as being mostly useless. Under the TSCA’s set-up, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has only been able to test 200 chemicals out of 80,000 or more substances listed in the TSCA inventory. Of the 200 chemicals tested, only five chemicals have been restricted by the agency. They include asbestos, lead-based paint, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). PCBs were used in hundreds of industrial and commercial applications including as plasticizers in paints, plastics and rubber products.
As health writer Denise Mann explains in a WebMD Health News article:
Passed in 1976, the TSCA requires companies that manufacture chemicals to notify the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of intent to market a new chemical. The chemical manufacturers are not required to perform any safety testing before notifying the EPA.
The AAP now joins the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, and the American Nurses Association in its call for changes to the TSCA. In its statement,  released on April 25 in the journal Pediatrics, the AAP criticized the legislation:
Its processes are so cumbersome that in its more than 30 years of existence, the TSCA has been used to regulate only 5 chemicals or chemical classes of the tens of thousands of chemicals that are in commerce. Under the TSCA, chemical companies have no responsibility to perform premarket testing or postmarket follow-up of the products that they produce; in fact, the TSCA contains disincentives for the companies to produce such data.
The AAP recommends the TSCA be rewritten so that the EPA has the authority to demand additional safety data about a chemical and to halt or restrict the marketing of a chemical when experts suspect that it’s dangerous.
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