"Environmentalists and chemical manufacturers don't often agree.

But on Tuesday, environmentalists and industry leaders called on Congress to change the way that the country protects children from toxic chemicals.

The law that governs toxins, the Toxic Substances Control Act, is more than 30 years old and "badly broken," says Richard Denison, senior scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund. In three decades, the Environmental Protection Agency has used the law to ban or severely restrict only about half a dozen chemicals, says Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group.

"When the EPA tried to use it to ban asbestos, they lost in court," Cook says."

Liz Szabo reports for USA TODAY August 4, 2009. [2]