The Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of the first 10 chemicals the agency will evaluate under the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety For The 21st Century Act.
The highly anticipated list includes asbestos, a substance advocates have been calling on the federal government to ban for decades.
Now, under Lautenberg, the agency will have three years to study the chemicals and determine if they present an “unreasonable risk to humans and the environment.” Then, the EPA will have two years to reduce that risk through new rules — and it may decide to ban the use of that substance all together.
Under the new rules, the EPA will also no longer be required to consider the business cost of how it regulates chemicals.
Here’s a complete list of the chemicals and their uses:
- 1,4-Dioxane — Dyes, varnishes, waxes and other products
- 1-Bromopropane — Vapor degreasing, aerosol adhesives, foam cushions, dry cleaning
- Asbestos — Insulation, brake pads, chlor-alkali industry
- Carbon tetrachloride — Spot removers and other industrial products
- Cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster — Flame retardant, textiles, electrical appliances
- Methylene chloride — Paint-removing products, spray paint, adhesives
- N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) — Cleaning agent, paint-removing products
- Pigment violet 29 — Automotive dyes, plastics
- Trichloroethylene (TCE) — Dry cleaning, commercial and industrial degreasers
- Tetrachloroethylene — Spot removers, dry cleaning, wood cleaners, shoe polish
Most of the chemicals on the list are suspected human carcinogens. Others were chosen by the EPA because of the potential environmental harm associated with the chemical’s presence in groundwater, air or soil.
Three of the chemicals — NMP, methylene chloride and TCE — have already been evaluated by the EPA and have restricted use rules that are pending review by the Office of Management and Budget.
The EPA said that when choosing its first 10 chemicals, it considered public, industrial and environmental concerns.
After the EPA finishes reviewing these chemicals, it will have to begin evaluating other. Under the Lautenberg laws, by the end of 2019, the agency will have to have at least 20 chemical risk evaluations going at any given time.