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The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has focused governmental attention on the process of assessing the hazards from commercial chemicals. Environmental behavior and impact must be projected before the chemical is released. This requires a knowledge of the environment, relevancy of laboratory data, extent of necessary data and interpretation of those data for future impacts. The responsibility for the data rests with the manufacturer. The key criterion involves a determination of “unreasonable risk.” Six axiomatic principles of risk assessment are identified. This involves an interactive and interdisciplinary thought process that is both iterative and staged. A generalized procedure for exposure assessment has been developed. An initial risk assessment comparing projected environmental concentrations with probable effect levels determines the type and quantity of laboratory test data needed. As examples, three new and three existing chemicals with widely differing properties and uses have been evaluated for their potential environmental impacts.

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Undoubtedly the chemical industry is different today than it was at the start of the 1970's. An examination of the four issues of Chemical Week for May 1981 reveals twenty-three articles concerning health, environmental, and/or safety (HE&S) regulations, laws, or technology (29% of all articles). In contrast, the corresponding issues for 1970 contained only seven articles on these topics (12% of all articles). At least twenty-two laws regulating health, the environment, and safety were enacted during the 1970's.I The evolution of the chemical industry is a result of at least five significant technical and societal factors: (1) dramatic advances in

4-Hydroxy-1-butanesulfonic acid sultone has been synthesized by dehydration of the corresponding hydroxysulfonic acid. Dehydration of 5-hydroxy-1-pentanesulfonic acid, however, gave 4-hydroxy-I-pentanesulfonic acid sultone. These sultones reacted readily with benzene, p-xylene, and p-dichlorobenzene in the presence of aluminum chloride to give good yields of 4-aryl-1-alkanesulfonates without any rearrangement of the entering side chain. With chlorobenzene, toluene and anisole, mixtures of substitution isomers were formed. 2-o-Hydroxyphenylethanesulfonic acid sultone was synthesized and found to be inert in the Friedel-Crafts reaction.