Toxic Tort Law

Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Tort and Personal Injury including: animal bites, asbestos mesothelioma, back and neck injury, bicycle accident, birth injury, brain injury, burn injuries, catastrophic injuries, construction accidents, construction injuries, defamation, libel and slander, defective products, industrial injuries, mass tort, negligence, nursing home abuse, pedestrian accident, personal injury, premises liability, product liability, sexual abuse, slip and fall, spinal cord injury, torts, toxic mold, toxic torts, workplace injuries and wrongful death.

The Environmental Litigation and Toxic Torts Committee is one of the largest and most diverse committee in the Section. We are over 900 lawyers strong with members from most every State and several countries. In addition to our geographical diversity, our members represent all sides of the environmental equation. While some committee members regularly represent environmental groups and injured plaintiffs others routinely defend such cases. We also benefit from the participation of several lawyers in academia and others that work for state and federal agencies and law enforcement.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, was enacted by Congress on December 11, 1980. This law created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment. Over five years, $1.6 billion was collected and the tax went to a trust fund for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.

A number of laws serve as EPA's foundation for protecting the environment and public health. However, most laws do not have enough detail to be put into practice right away. EPA is called a regulatory agency because Congress authorizes us to write regulations that explain the critical details necessary to implement environmental laws. In addition, a number of Presidential Executive Orders (EOs) play a central role in our activities.

On September 27, 2007, President George W. Bush signed into law H.R. 3580, the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007. This new law represents a very significant addition to FDA authority.

EPCRA was enacted in 1986 as Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), Pub. L. No. 99-499, 100 Stat. 1729 (codified at 42 U.S.C. ''11001-11050(1988)). Although they are sometimes connected by their emergency notification and reporting requirements, EPCRA is a separate act from the "Superfund" law or, as it is officially titled, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA).

The owner or operator of any facility which is required to prepare or have available a material safety data sheet for a hazardous chemical under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 [29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.] and regulations promulgated under that Act shall submit a material safety data sheet for each such chemical, or a list of such chemicals as described in paragraph (2).

The purpose of these standards is to ensure that the hazards of all chemicals produced or imported are evaluated, and that information concerning their hazards is transmitted to employers and employees. This transmittal of information is to be accomplished by means of comprehensive hazard communication programs, which are to include container labeling and other forms of warning, material safety data sheets and employee training.

Superfund is the name given to the environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. It is also the name of the fund established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA statute, CERCLA overview). This law was enacted in the wake of the discovery of toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal and Times Beach in the 1970s. It allows the EPA to clean up such sites and to compel responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-lead cleanups. This Web site provides topical information for the general public and for those involved in the Superfund program. On this site, you'll find information about Superfund sites in your area, the health effects of common contaminants, cleanup efforts, and how you can become involved in cleanup activities in your community.

The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 provides EPA with authority to require reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures. Certain substances are generally excluded from TSCA, including, among others, food, drugs, cosmetics and pesticides.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR serves the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances.

With more than 161,000 members, the American Chemical Society (ACS) is the world’s largest scientific society and one of the world’s leading sources of authoritative scientific information. A nonprofit organization, chartered by Congress, ACS is at the forefront of the evolving worldwide chemical enterprise and the premier professional home for chemists, chemical engineers and related professions around the globe.

The National Toxic Substance Incidents Program (NTSIP) collects and combines information from many resources to protect people from harm caused by spills and leaks of toxic substances. NTSIP gathers information about harmful spills into a central place. People can use NTSIP information to help prevent or reduce the harm caused by toxic substance incidents.

For comparison against many occupational health standards, it is necessary to measure quantitative exposure levels in the workplace. Depending on circumstances, there are various sampling technologies, procedures, and philosophies to measure airborne chemical concentrations to workers. Exposure assessment data can be compared to established standards to help determine if the exposure is acceptable.

Proving causation in toxic tort litigation has proven difficult for a long time, says Genomics Law Report's Jon Ferry. But work being done in the field of toxicogenomics is allowing lawyers to refine their cases and take a more targeted approach.