Leading scientists and public health experts believe that numerous unregulated hazardous chemicals threaten human and ecosystem viability. The US is the second largest producer of industrial chemicals, yet few of these chemicals have been tested for safety. Empirical evidence suggests the American public is largely unaware of the health and environmental challenges posed by toxic substances, and many people are ignorant about chemicals policy and chemical use in consumer products. While wealthy people who are educated about toxics in products can attempt to “buy their way out” of the problem and people of lower socioeconomic status are more severely impacted by certain chemicals, everyone is ultimately affected through pollution of common resources. US chemicals policy reform is underway following years of debate with little public input or engagement in the process; the public must be educated about the potential significance of the new policy as well as how it can engage in shaping implementation. Formulating and implementing effective public outreach and engagement methods will require integration of numerous scientific and professional disciplines and communication across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

   This paper initiates a dialogue about why hazardous chemicals do not appear a significant concern to the general public, and is a call to action for advocates, academics, scientists, and the media to better work together on public engagement and awareness of new US chemicals policies in order to create political will for effective implementation. We address these issues using a mixed methods approach, and find that chemicals issues do not fit within journalistic norms of reporting; without media attention to drive public attention and policymaking, chemicals are not considered a priority concern. We invite others to build on this work to help promote public awareness and engagement on exposures to hazardous chemicals and the need for effective implementation of new policies.