The Environmental Safety Company mentioned Tuesday it has finalized a ban on client makes use of of methylene chloride, a chemical that’s broadly used as a paint stripper however is thought to trigger liver most cancers and different well being issues.
The EPA mentioned its motion will defend People from well being dangers whereas permitting sure business makes use of to proceed with sturdy employee protections.
The rule banning methylene chloride is the second danger administration rule to be finalized by President Joe Biden’s administration underneath landmark 2016 amendments to the Poisonous Substances Management Act. The primary was an motion final month to ban asbestos, a carcinogen that kills tens of hundreds of People yearly however remains to be utilized in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and different merchandise.
“Publicity to methylene chloride has devastated households throughout this nation for too lengthy, together with some who noticed family members go to work and by no means come house,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan mentioned in an announcement. The brand new rule , he mentioned, “brings an finish to unsafe methylene chloride practices and implements the strongest employee protections doable for the few remaining industrial makes use of, guaranteeing nobody on this nation is put in hurt’s means by this harmful chemical.”
Methylene chloride, additionally known as dichloromethane, is a colorless liquid that emits a poisonous vapor that has killed at the very least 88 staff since 1980, the EPA mentioned. Lengthy-term well being results embody quite a lot of cancers, together with liver most cancers and lung most cancers, and injury to the nervous, immune and reproductive methods.
The EPA rule would ban all client makes use of however enable sure “important” makes use of within the navy and industrial processing, with employee protections in place, mentioned Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Workplace of Chemical Security and Air pollution Prevention.
Methylene chloride will proceed to be allowed to make refrigerants as a substitute for different chemical compounds that produce greenhouse gases and contribute to local weather change, Freedhoff mentioned. It additionally might be allowed to be used in electrical automobile batteries and for important navy features.
“The makes use of we predict can safely proceed (all) occur in subtle industrial settings, and in some circumstances there aren’t any actual substitutes accessible,” Freedhoff mentioned.
The chemical trade has argued that the EPA is overstating the dangers of methylene chloride and that sufficient protections have mitigated well being dangers.
The American Chemistry Council, the trade’s high lobbying group, known as methylene chloride “a necessary compound” used to make many merchandise and items People depend on on daily basis, together with paint stripping, pharmaceutical manufacturing and steel cleansing and degreasing.
An EPA proposal final yr may introduce “regulatory uncertainty and confusion” with current publicity limits set by the federal Occupational Security and Well being Administration, the group mentioned.
The chemical council additionally mentioned it was involved that the EPA had not absolutely evaluated the rule’s impacts on the home provide chain and will find yourself prohibiting as much as half of all finish makes use of topic to regulation underneath the Poisonous Substances Management Act.
Whereas the EPA banned one client use of methylene chloride in 2019, use of the chemical has remained widespread and continues to pose important and typically deadly hazard to staff, the company mentioned. The EPA’s closing danger administration rule requires firms to quickly section down manufacturing, processing and distribution of methylene chloride for all client makes use of and most industrial and business makes use of, together with in house renovations.
Shopper use might be phased out inside a yr, and most industrial and business makes use of might be prohibited inside two years.
Liz Hitchcock, director of a safer chemical compounds program for the advocacy group Poisonous-Free Future, praised the brand new rule however added: “As glad as we’re to see at this time’s rule banning all client and most business makes use of, we’re involved that limits to its scope will enable continued publicity for too many staff to methylene chloride’s harmful and lethal results.”
Customers ought to search for labels indicating {that a} product is free from methylene chloride, mentioned the toxic-free group, which has revealed a listing of paint and polish strippers and removers bought by main U.S. retailers that don’t comprise it.
Wendy Hartley, whose son Kevin died from methylene chloride poisoning after refinishing a tub at work, known as the brand new rule “an enormous step that can defend susceptible staff.”
Kevin Hartley, 21, of Tennessee, died in 2017. He was an organ donor, Wendy Hartley mentioned, including that due to the EPA’s actions, “Kevin’s loss of life will proceed to avoid wasting lives.”
