美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）提议扩大名为"进口容限"（TOR）的争议性监管豁免制度，将允许高度有毒的化学物质作为食品添加剂直接进入食品而无需安全审查1。根据该提议，化学物质可被用作食品添加剂、调味剂、防腐剂和乳化剂等多种用途1。公共卫生专家警告称，这一扩展将使激素干扰物等可能导致儿童脑损伤和生殖危害的化学物质进入食品供应链1。
现行TOR豁免已导致问题出现。高氯酸盐在2005年获得TOR豁免用于谷物储存袋，FDA 2017年数据显示儿童麦片中高氯酸盐含量在豁免后显著增加1。这类物质会降低甲状腺吸收碘的能力，低浓度暴露与儿童甲状腺激素产生降低和智商下降相关1。
专家对这一举措提出了严厉批评。Maricel Maffini指出，"FDA和行业的立场是如果某物质在饮食中含量很少就不会造成问题，但这不得任何科学支持"1。环保组织环境保护基金的Maria Doa表示，"他们在扩大另一个漏洞，但试图说他们让我们的食品更安全了。他们并没有"1。此外，消费者无法知道产品是否含有TOR豁免的化学物质1。
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed broadening a controversial regulatory exemption that would allow highly toxic chemicals to be added directly to food as additives without undergoing safety review 1. The expansion of the "threshold of regulation" (TOR) system would permit companies to use chemical substances as food additives, flavorings, preservatives, and emulsifiers, raising alarm among public health experts 1.
Under the current TOR exemption, dangerous compounds are already permitted in food contact materials provided their concentration does not exceed 0.5 parts per billion 1. Public health researchers warn that extending this exemption could introduce hormone-disrupting chemicals and other substances potentially causing brain damage in children and reproductive harm into the food supply 1. One documented case illustrates the concern: perchlorate, a rocket fuel chemical, received TOR approval in 2005 for use in cereal storage bags, and FDA data from 2017 showed that perchlorate levels in children's cereals increased significantly after the exemption was granted 1. Perchlorate reduces the thyroid's ability to absorb iodine, and low-level exposure has been linked to decreased T4 production and lower IQ scores in children 1.
Experts dispute the agency's safety rationale for the expansion. Maricel Maffini stated: "FDA and industry's position is that if a substance is present in very small amounts in the diet, it won't cause problems, but this has no scientific support" 1. Maria Doa of the Environmental Defense Fund added: "They're expanding another loophole, but trying to say they're making our food safer. They're not" 1. Additionally, consumers have no way of knowing whether products contain chemicals that have received TOR exemptions 1.
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