"Clearly, that would be a very logical assumption that someone is out there protecting us, somebody is making sure the chemicals that would harm our bodies or our environment wouldn't be in common products," says Debbie Raphael, Director of California's Department of Toxic Substances Control.

As a result, about 83,000 chemicals are not routinely tested for safety.

Raphael says California's new law affects every consumer product that may have any of more than 12-hundred "chemicals of concern."

"These are chemicals widely understood throughout the world to cause problems like cancer, like reproductive harm, polluting our waters, polluting our air, those kinds of chemicals becomes our list of chemicals of concern," says Raphael.

The prospect of regulating so many chemicals is daunting, so the department will target five chemicals in five products to begin with.

The list could include could formaldehyde in carpet, cadmium in jewelry, ammonia in cleaning products; the department hasn't decided.

"Basically the department is in a position to choose any product that it wants, at any time, and in the first year, two years, three years, five years, ten years down the road," says Gene Livingston, an attorney for the Green Chemistry Alliance.

It's a coalition that represents automobile, toy, plastics, paint, and detergent manufacturers among others.

He says the new law may sound reasonable…but its results are totally unpredictable.

"And that's how business is looking at this…what's going to happen in the future," says Livingston.

"The way they've organized the regulation could cause very serious economic impacts," says Loren Kaye is with the California Chamber of Commerce. "Initially it's going to affect manufacturers, but then manufacturers make products that get incorporated into further products, and then eventually it gets into distribution and retail, so it affects the whole stream of commerce."

Ultimately, he says the new chemical regulations will force consumers to pay more for products, or make some products unavailable.

Environmentalists disagree. 

Phillips says she thinks the regulations could have gone even further to include more chemicals that degrade water quality.

But she says the pending regulations are designed to protect consumers.

 "It won't reduce the availability of household cleaners for instance it will just make sure that household cleaners are safer, children aren't exposed to toxic chemicals, mothers aren't exposed to toxic chemicals," says Phillips.

Manufacturers contend product reformulation can cost millions of dollars and they say alternatives to some chemicals can be more expensive or less effective.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control says it has accounted for contingencies. 

"If the alternative is way more expensive or if it doesn't meet a performance standard or even if it smells bad and consumers wouldn't ever want to buy your product, well that isn't a viable alternative," says Raphael.