LETTERS: NEED DATA ON CHEMICALS

To the editor:

I'm concerned that we are getting hoodwinked by the folks who use and produce toxic chemicals in Missouri. Over 75,000 different chemicals are used in the country every year, yet only 5 percent is currently reported to the public. I think we have a right to know about toxic pollution.

The public's right to know and the Children's Environmental Health Protection Act would require:

-- Increased reporting about toxic chemicals transported through our neighborhoods, used in the workplace, put into the products we eat and buy and released into our air, water and land.

-- Elimination of loopholes and exemptions by the country's biggest polluters.

-- Industries to inform parents if foods and products contain chemcials that may cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive damage.

Our right to know is critical if we are to protect our health and the health of our children. I urged our federal legislators to make this legislation a top priority this year.

VALERIE SHERMAN

Creve Couer