PHOTO: PHYNART STUDIO/GETTY IMAGES science.org SCIENCE 138 14 JANUARY 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6577 By Wendy E. Wagner 1 and Steve C. Gold 2 W hen the United States first regu- lated industrial chemicals in the 1970s, policy-makers made a threshold decision: Rather than a “front-end” approach requiring proactive risk assessment before licensing a chemical for use, Congress chose a reactive approach of regulating chemi- cal risks as they became manifest (1). This choice puts a premium on “back-end” re- search on exposure pathways and hazards of new chemical contaminants in situ. Such research identifies contaminants in the en- vironment, their source, where they go, and what harm they might cause (2). This knowl- edge is crucial for risk assessment and regu- latory decisions. However, key features of the legislative design impede that essential research. Amid debate about how policy- makers should apply existing scientific find- ings, these science-hindering features are easy to overlook. We highlight three of them: insufficient availability of chemical stan- dards, limited public access to information, and excessive fragmentation of information within and among government agencies. A recent survey found that 22 chemi- cal databases and inventories worldwide CHEMICAL REGULATION Legal obstacles to toxic chemical research Legislative design impedes study of chemicals in the environment INSIGHTS POLICY FORUM Downloaded from https://www.science.org on January 14, 2022