Storm-Driven Chemical Releases Should Count in EPA Risk Analyses

Manufacturers’ releases of chemicals into the environment due to storms should be recognized by the EPA in its chemical risk evaluations, scientists advising the agency said on Wednesday.

Those releases can add to the amounts of the chemical nearby residents inhale or ingest and potentially harm animals and ecosystems, said some members of the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) during a critique of the EPA’s risk evaluation of 1,1-dichloroethane, a chemical that’s used to produce plastics. That added exposure could increase the health risks of residents who already are exposed to routine air and water releases of a manufacturer’s ...