Dive Brief:
- The U.S. EPA announced Wednesday it will formally designate vinyl chloride as a high-priority substance for risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
- Regulators will consider whether vinyl chloride — a synthetic plastic polymer in PVC, a material used in flexible plastic film wraps and other packaging — and four other prioritized chemicals present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment. EPA is opening a 90-day public comment period.
- EPA also announced it’s beginning the process to determine which chemicals will be considered for future risk evaluations. Among them are styrene. “These risk evaluations will be used to determine how to protect people from harmful chemical exposures,” said Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff in a statement.
Dive Insight:
The announcement culminates a year-long process to commence a risk evaluation. One possible outcome of such a review could be a ban.
EPA said that it’s had concerns about vinyl chloride since the 1970s, which spurred the creation of the original Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976. Industry representatives such as the Vinyl Institute have defended the safety of PVC products, while environmental groups like Toxic-Free Future, Earthjustice and Beyond Plastics have raised concerns.
Along with vinyl chloride, EPA will begin investigating acetaldehyde, which can be used in packaging, and acrylonitrile, benzenamine and MBOCA, which can be used in the manufacturing and processing of plastics and resins, among other applications. EPA describes vinyl chloride as a known human carcinogen, and the others as probable carcinogens.
Ned Monroe, president and CEO of the Vinyl Institute, said in a statement that EPA formalizing this step with vinyl chloride is “a welcome opportunity to share our expertise on the many indispensable uses of this highly regulated material” and the group will continue “constructive dialogue and engagement with EPA and to emphasize the importance of using the best available science on this well-studied material.”
The agency said that in the coming weeks it will release preliminary lists of manufacturers subject to fees for the five chemicals designated as high-priority substances under TSCA.
In addition to styrene, EPA will consider future risk evaluations for ethylbenzene, which can be used in the production of packaging, as well as benzene, naphthalene and 4-tert-octylphenol, some of which are also linked to plastics.
“The overall impact to the TSCA program due to the incoming Trump administration policies and the outcome of several court challenges is likely to be significant, but the precise consequences for the styrene risk evaluation and risk management standards are not predictable,” the American Composites Manufacturers Association said in a release regarding the EPA announcement.
The chemical styrene can be used to create packaging materials such as expanded polystyrene, which many people know thanks to the trademark Styrofoam. Styrene is also used in adhesives, sealants, paints, appliances and other products. Exposure may be linked to multiple types of cancers in humans, EPA said.
Multiple states have passed bans of EPS for environmental and pollution reasons. Some companies have also voluntarily phased out PVC and EPS alike. For example, The Home Depot this year announced it met a goal to eliminate expanded polystyrene foam and PVC film from packaging for products from its own company brand.
Determining this next round of chemicals for evaluations is a nine-to-12-month process, EPA noted.
The agency previewed steps it’s taken this year to make these drawn-out prioritization and review processes more efficient, saying it’s invested “in cutting-edge software to review more information earlier in prioritization” and pulled in more government agency assessments and other literature.
