Energy and Environment MonitorOn August 18, 2010, EPA announced plans to revise the Toxics Substances Control Act (TSCA) to limit exposure to chemicals used in dyes, flame retardants, and industrial detergents. The plan will address the potential health risks of benzidine dyes, hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and nonylphenol (NP)/nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs). EPA identified a range of actions it is considering.
EPA stated that “Benzidine dyes are used in the production of consumer textiles, paints, printing inks, paper, and pharmaceuticals and may pose health problems, including cancer. HBCD is used as a flame retardant in expanded polystyrene foam in the building and construction industry, as well as in some consumer products. HBCD has been shown to be persistent and bioaccumulative in the environment and may pose potential reproductive, developmental, and neurological effects in people. NP/NPEs are used in many industrial applications and consumer products such as detergents, cleaners, agricultural and indoor pesticides, as well as food packaging.” The agency announcement added that “[t]hese chemicals have been detected in people.”
The range of actions announced include adding HBCD and NP/NPE to EPA’s new Chemicals of Concern list, issuing significant new use rules for all three chemicals, and, for HBCD and benzidine dyes, imposing new reporting requirements on EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory and potentially banning or limiting the manufacture or use of the chemicals.
TSCA, passed in 1976, has always authorized the Chemicals of Concern list but, until this announcement, EPA had not implemented it. The list will contain the names of chemicals that “may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health and the environment.” Additional information regarding the proposed TSCA revisions may be found at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals.
This article was authored by Skipp Kropp, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the author see here.
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