EPA’s final rule on methylene chloride is good but could be better

EPA issued a final rule yesterday under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that bans all consumer uses of methylene chloride, and several industrial and commercial uses.

“EPA’s regulation of methylene chloride is an important step forward in protecting workers and consumers from this deadly solvent,” said Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, Professor and Director of the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) and the UCSF EaRTH Center. “Research by UCSF and others found that methylene chloride has killed workers and small business owners. We strongly support all prohibitions of methylene chloride issued by EPA, which are necessary to eliminate known risks of this toxic chemical. These prohibitions will provide critical health protections for hundreds of thousands of workers and millions of consumers.”

However, EPA’s rule will allow many industrial and commercial uses of methylene chloride to continue indefinitely, and others to continue for at least 10 years, subject to a Workplace Chemical Protection Program. These workplace controls are not sufficient to eliminate the unreasonable risk to workers. Scientists at PRHE applied methods developed by the World Health Organization to quantify non-cancer risk, and found that workers exposed to methylene chloride at the levels allowed under EPA’s rule will face risks of liver effects as high as 1 case per 350 exposed workers. This risk level is nearly 3,000 times higher than what EPA often considers a health protective benchmark.

The rule also fails to protect fenceline communities from high cancer risks that may result from methylene chloride releases into the air wherever methylene chloride uses continue.

“EPA needs to improve its approach to estimating risks of non-cancer effects from toxic chemicals, as recommended by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This would provide a stronger basis for limiting harmful workplace exposures that result in unreasonable risks to workers,” said Rashmi Joglekar, PRHE’s Associate Director of Science, Policy & Engagement. “In addition, EPA’s final rule does not provide any protections for residents of communities near facilities that emit methylene chloride who are subject to unreasonable cancer risks. The best approach to protect workers and fenceline community residents is to prohibit all methylene chloride use.”