WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Nov. 29 the first 10 chemicals it plans to evaluate for potential risks to human health and the environment under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform.
“Under the new law, we now have the power to require safety reviews of all chemicals in the marketplace,” said Jim Jones, assistant administrator of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “We can ensure the public that we will deliver on the promise to better protect public health and the environment.”
The first chemicals that will be evaluated are 1,4-dioxane, 1-bromopropane, asbestos, carbon tetrachloride, cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster, methylene chloride, N-methylpyrrolidone, pigment violet 29, tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene.
The EPA’s evaluation will determine if the chemicals present an unreasonable risk to humans and the environment. If the chemicals present an unreasonable risk, the EPA must mitigate the risk within two years. The EPA must also release a document within six months for each chemical, detailing the hazards, exposure, conditions of use, and potentially exposed or susceptible sub-populations.