Many regulations control how industry uses chemicals on the market and limit the amounts that can be emitted into the air and water, said Paul Rubin, a professor of economics and law at Emory University in Atlanta.

And companies are participating in a voluntary EPA program, the High Production Volume Challenge, which will ultimately yield information on hazards of some 2,200 chemicals.

That information, some of it already available on the EPA's Web site, is more than enough, said Steve Russell, a senior director at the American Chemistry Council.

"It's just simply not accurate to say that information doesn't exist on these chemicals," he said.

But the information is limited to basic screening data, not in-depth research on long-term health effects.

"It's better than nothing," said Jane Houlihan, vice president of research at the Environmental Working Group, a national advocacy organization. "But is it what we need in order to know whether these chemicals are safe? Absolutely not."