(AGENPARL) - Roma, 24 Luglio 2024 - (AGENPARL) – mer 24 luglio 2024 Issued: Jul 24, 2024 (10:07am EDT)
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Biden-Harris Administration Takes Latest Action Under Toxic Substances Control
Act to Protect Public from Exposure to Harmful Chemicals
EPA proposes to begin evaluations on five harmful chemicals, advancing the
Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to deliver environmental justice, end
cancer as we know it
WASHINGTON – Today, July 24, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
proposed to designate five chemicals as High-Priority Substances for risk
evaluation under the nation’s chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA). If EPA finalizes these designations as proposed, the
agency would immediately move forward with the risk evaluation process. This
step is consistent with a commitment from the Biden-Harris Administration to
understand and address environmental and toxic exposures to ensure that every
community has access to clean air and water, supports the Cancer Moonshot’s
mission to end cancer as we know it, and bolsters the Administration’s
efforts to make progress on delivering environmental justice and tackling
plastic pollution.
The five chemical substances EPA is proposing to designate as High-Priority
Substances are:
Vinyl Chloride (CASRN 75-01-4), 
Acetaldehyde (CASRN 75-07-0),
Acrylonitrile (CASRN 107-13-1),
Benzenamine (CASRN 62-53-3), and
4,4’-methylene bis(2-chloroaniline) (MBOCA) (CASRN 101-14-4).
“The Biden-Harris Administration continues to make significant progress in
protecting workers and communities from exposure to harmful chemicals as we
implement the 2016 TSCA amendments that strengthened EPA’s authority on
chemical safety, ” said Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical
Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff. “Studying the safety of
these harmful chemicals – all five of which have been linked to cancer and
are used to make plastic – would help lead to critical public health and
environmental protections in communities across the country and would ensure
that the public has access to more data on these chemicals sooner.”
Chemicals Proposed as High-Priority Substances for Risk Evaluation
All five chemicals were selected from the 2014 TSCA Work Plan, which is a list
of chemicals identified by EPA for further assessment based on their hazards
and potential for exposure. In proposing these five chemical substances as
High-Priority Substances for risk evaluation, EPA had to consider the
chemicals’ conditions of use and production volume or changes in conditions
of use and production volume over time, impacts to potentially exposed or
susceptible subpopulations including children and workers, and the
chemicals’ potential hazards and exposures. EPA also considered more
specific criteria such as the chemical’s bioaccumulation and environmental
persistence and whether the chemical is stored near significant sources of
drinking water. 
Vinyl chloride is used primarily in the manufacturing and processing of
plastic materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), plastic resins, and other
chemicals. Many of these materials are used for pipes and insulating
materials. This chemical was also involved in the Norfolk Southern train
derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Vinyl chloride is a known human
carcinogen and can cause liver, brain, and lung cancer in exposed workers.
Short-term exposure to vinyl chloride can also result in other health effects
such as dizziness, nausea, and eye and skin irritation. Vinyl chloride
exposure can also damage genetic material in cells, which can lead to numerous
adverse health effects. In the 1970s, the White House Council on Environmental
Quality and EPA officials raised serious concerns about the health impacts of
vinyl chloride as an example when the Nixon Administration asked Congress to
write a law to ensure chemicals were made and used safely, which led to
passage of the “original” TSCA in 1976.
Acetaldehyde is used primarily in the manufacturing and processing of
adhesives, petrochemicals, plastic and other chemicals, as well as
intermediates for products such as packaging and construction materials.
Acetaldehyde is a probable human carcinogen. Specifically, animal studies
have shown that exposure to acetaldehyde can result in the formation of nasal
and laryngeal tumors. Short-term exposure can also result in health effects
such as irritation of the respiratory system and reduced heart function. Data
further shows that acetaldehyde exposure can damage genetic material in cells,
potentially leading to numerous adverse health effects. 
Acrylonitrile is used primarily in the manufacturing and processing of plastic
materials, paints, petrochemicals, and other chemicals. Acrylonitrile is a
probable human carcinogen and can cause lung and brain cancer in exposed
workers. Short-term exposure to acrylonitrile can also result in health
effects such as eye, skin, and respiratory irritation. Long-term exposure can
result in reproductive effects such as reduced sperm count and developmental
effects such as slowed fetal growth.
Benzenamine is used in the manufacturing and processing of dyes and pigments,
petrochemicals, plastics, resins, and other chemicals. Benzenamine is
a probable human carcinogen and can cause bladder tumors and pancreatic
cancer in workers. Long-term exposure to benzenamine can result in a range of
adverse health effects such as difficulty in breathing, tumor growth in the
spleen, and possible reductions in fetal viability.
MBOCA is used in the manufacturing and processing of rubbers, plastics,
resins, and other chemicals. MBOCA is a probable human carcinogen.
Specifically, animal studies have shown that exposure to MBOCA can cause liver
and urinary bladder cancer. Short-term exposure to MBOCA can result in eye and
skin irritation. Data further demonstrates that MBOCA exposure can damage
genetic material in cells, potentially leading to numerous adverse health
effects.
Prioritization Process and Improvements
Prioritization is the first step under EPA’s authority to regulate existing
chemicals currently on the market and in use. EPA’s proposed designations
are not themselves a finding of risk. If EPA finalizes these designations, the
agency will initiate risk evaluations for these chemicals to determine whether
they present an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment under the
TSCA conditions of use (the way the chemical is made and used), which the
agency is required to complete within 3-3.5 years. If at the end of the risk
evaluation process EPA determines that a chemical presents an unreasonable
risk to health or the environment, the agency must begin the risk management
process to take action to eliminate these unreasonable risks.
EPA began the process of prioritizing these five chemicals in December 2023
and also announced that it expects to initiate prioritization on five
chemicals every year, which will create a sustainable and effective pace for
risk evaluations. Over the past year, EPA has continued to improve the
prioritization process by investing in cutting-edge software to review more
information earlier in prioritization. EPA has also implemented improvements
to its systematic review approaches as recommended by the Scientific Advisory
Committee on Chemicals (SACC) by incorporating additional data sources such as
assessments published by other government agencies to identify potential
hazards and exposures, clarifying terminology to increase transparency in the
systematic review process, and presenting interactive literature inventory
trees and evidence maps to better depict data sources containing potentially
relevant information.
EPA has conducted a preliminary screening and technical review of large data
sets to more efficiently identify relevant information for prioritization and
risk evaluation and can easily flag information that may be useful to retrieve
later in the risk evaluation process. As a result, EPA now has a head start on
risk evaluations. At this proposed designation stage, EPA has a much fuller
understanding of how these chemicals behave in the environment and their
potential hazards and exposures than it had at this point in the process in
the previous prioritization cycle conducted in 2019. That has also enabled EPA
to make considerably more information available to the public a year earlier
than occurred for the first 30 chemicals designated for risk evaluation under
TSCA. The public will be able to see which studies and what information EPA
considered in its screening review for proposed designation and submit any
additional information they would like EPA to consider via public comment.
EPA will accept public comments on the proposed designations for 90 days after
publication via docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2023-0601 at the Regulations.gov page. 
Upon publication of the Federal Register notice, supporting documents will
also be available in the docket. 
Learn more about the prioritization process under TSCA.
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