(AGENPARL) – gio 08 giugno 2023 Issued: Jun 8, 2023 (2:13pm EDT)
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EPA Proposes Ban on All Consumer and Many Commercial Uses of Perchloroethylene
to Protect Public Health
Strict workplace safety requirements would allow for numerous key uses to
continue
WASHINGTON (June 8, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) announced another action to protect public health under the Toxic
Substances Control Act (TSCA), proposing a ban on most uses
of perchloroethylene (PCE), a chemical known to cause serious health risks
such as neurotoxicity and cancer. Today’s proposal would protect people from
these risks by banning all consumer uses while allowing for many
industrial/commercial uses to continue only where strict workplace controls
could be implemented, including uses related to national security, aviation
and other critical infrastructure, and the Agency’s efforts to combat the
climate crisis.
“We know that exposure to PCE is dangerous for people’s health, and
today’s rule is an important first step to keeping communities and workers
safe,” said Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff. “We’ve proposed to ban the uses
we know can’t continue safely, and we’ve made sure that stringent controls
are in place to protect workers for the uses that remain.”
PCE is a solvent that is widely used for consumer uses such as brake cleaners
and adhesives, commercial applications such as dry cleaning, and in many
industrial settings. For example, PCE is used as a chemical intermediate in
the production of two chemical substances regulated under the American
Innovation and Manufacturing Act. This rule proposes to allow for continued
processing of PCE to manufacture hydrofluorocarbons (HFC)-125 and HFC-134a in
tandem with strict workplace controls, as the two can be mixed with other
substances to make more climate-friendly refrigerants. Additionally, the rule
proposes to continue to allow the industrial and commercial use of PCE in
petrochemical manufacturing, the manufacture of coatings for aircraft skins,
and vapor degreasing with PCE to make aerospace parts and engines, as
examples of other uses not proposed for prohibition.
EPA determined that PCE presents unreasonable risk to health, driven by risks
associated with exposure to the chemical by workers, occupational non-users
(workers nearby but not in direct contact with this chemical), consumers, and
those in close proximity to a consumer use. EPA identified risks for adverse
human health effects, including neurotoxicity from inhalation and dermal
exposures as well as cancer effects from chronic inhalation exposure. While
EPA identified potential risks to fenceline communities in a small number of
instances, the prohibitions and other requirements in EPA’s proposed rule
are expected to mitigate to a great extent the potential risks to the
neighboring communities.
EPA’s proposed risk management rule would rapidly phase down manufacturing,
processing and distribution of PCE for all consumer uses and many industrial
and commercial uses, most of which would be fully phased out in 24 months. The
uses subject to the proposed prohibitions represent less than 20% of the
annual production volume of PCE. For most of the uses of PCE that EPA is
proposing to prohibit, EPA’s analysis also found that alternative products
with similar costs and efficacy to PCE are reasonably available.
EPA is proposing a 10-year phaseout for the use of PCE in dry cleaning, with
compliance dates depending on the type of machine in which PCE is used. The
proposed phaseout of PCE in dry cleaning would eliminate unreasonable risk for
people who work at or spend considerable time at dry cleaning facilities.
This phaseout period would provide dry cleaners, many of which are small
businesses, time to transition to an alternative process, and stakeholders
have already noted an overall year-to-year decline in the use of PCE in dry
cleaning. In addition, President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget
request proposed funding for new pollution prevention grants that would
support small businesses with transitioning to TSCA compliant practices and
mitigate economic impacts. If implemented, these grants could be used to
support small businesses like dry cleaners in their transition away from PCE.
For the industrial manufacturing, industrial processing and other uses of PCE
that EPA is not proposing to prohibit, EPA is proposing a workplace chemical
protection program with a strict inhalation exposure limit and requirements to
prevent skin exposure to ensure protection for workers. EPA has received data
from industry that indicate many workplaces already have controls in place
that may reduce exposures sufficient to meet the inhalation exposure limit
in the proposed rule or to prevent direct skin contact with PCE.
EPA encourages members of the public to read and comment on the proposed rule.
EPA is especially interested in hearing perspectives on the feasibility and
efficacy of the proposed requirements for worker protections from entities
that would be required to implement the proposed program and the timeline for
the phaseout of PCE use in dry cleaning. In the coming weeks, EPA will host a
public webinar targeted to employers and workers, but useful for anyone
looking for an overview of the proposed regulatory action to discuss the
proposed program. The date, time and registration information will be
announced soon. EPA will accept public comments on the proposed rule for
PCE for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register via docket
EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0720 at www.regulations.gov.
Learn more about today’s proposal.
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