EPA Risk Evaluation for Plastic Chemical Blasted From All Sides

The EPA’s initial analysis that a widely used plastic chemical is too risky to use without restrictions fails to meet statutory requirements, companies and industry groups told the agency.

Without significant revision, the agency’s 1,2-dichloroethane (EDC) risk evaluation will not meet the Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA) requirements, such as its mandate that the Environmental Protection Agency use the best available science to evaluate the chemical’s potential to injure people or harm the environment, said the American Chemistry Council, which represents US chemical producers.

Manufacturing, importing, processing, and other uses of the chemical pose an unreasonable risk of harming workers’ ...