NEWS

EPA Releases Risk Evaluation Scope Documents for First Ten Chemicals under New TSCA Law

U.S. EPA has released "scoping documents" that will be used to conduct risk assessments of the first ten chemicals selected for evaluation under the new Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)--also known as the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21^st Century Act. The scoping documents were released on June 22--the first year anniversary of the signing of the new Act. A notice announcing their availability was published in the July 7 Federal Register [82 FR 31592].

Section 6(b)(4) of the new law requires EPA to select an initial list of ten chemicals from the agency's 2014 update to its TSCA Work Plan. The agency must then undertake risk assessments for each of those chemicals to determine whether it poses an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment. If the answer is yes then EPA must impose risk management restrictions on the use of the chemical to eliminate the unreasonable risk.

EPA released its list of the first ten chemicals last December. The list includes the following chemicals:

• Asbestos. It is listed as a carcinogen under Prop. 65.

• 1-Bromopropane. It is listed as a carcinogen and male, female and developmental reproductive toxicant under Prop. 65.

• Carbon Tetrachloride. It is listed as a carcinogen under Prop. 65.

• Cyclic Aliphatic Bromide Cluster (HBCD)

• 1-4-Dioxane. It is listed as a carcinogen under Prop. 65.

• Methylene Chloride. It is listed as a male and female reproductive toxicant under Prop. 65.

• N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP). It is listed as a developmental reproductive toxicant under Prop. 65.

• Perchloroethylene (also known as Tetrachloroethylene). It is listed as a carcinogen under Prop. 65.

• Pigment Violet 29

• Trichloroethylene (TCE). It is listed as a carcinogen and a male and female reproductive toxicant under Prop. 65.

The second step in the evaluation of these ten chemicals involves the preparation by EPA of a document laying out the scope of the risk assessment it will perform. The scope of the assessment for each chemical includes the hazards, exposures, conditions of use, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations that EPA expects to consider.

EPA notes that it had insufficient time to evaluate the information it received on each of the above chemicals and still meet the statutory deadline for issuing the scoping documents. Thus, the documents are not as refined as the agency would like. For this reason EPA will publish and take comment on a Problem Formulation Document that will refine the scope as an additional interim step, prior to publishing the draft risk evaluations. These problem formulations are expected to be released within approximately six months. In order to facilitate the preparation of these refined scopes, EPA is reopening the docket on the above chemicals in order to receive further commen

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• Asbestos
• 1-Bromopropane
• Carbon Tetrachloride
• Cyclic Aliphatic Bromide Cluster (HBCD)
• 1-4-Dioxane
• Methylene Chloride
• N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP)
• Perchloroethylene
• Pigment Violet 29
• Trichloroethylene (TCE)