Category: Regulatory

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

~ PRHE

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

EPA’s revised framework rule needs to do more to protect health

~ PRHE

EPA today issued a final rule to revise the framework for how it conducts risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  This rule is important for establishing how risks of harm from chemical exposures to workers, consumers, children and fenceline communities are assessed under TSCA. The final rule includes important improvements in several … Continue reading EPA’s revised framework rule needs to do more to protect health

EPA announces limits to PFAS in drinking water

~ PRHE ~ 2 Comments

Statement from Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, Professor and Director of the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and the UCSF EaRTH Center, on EPA’s new regulations on PFAS in drinking water: Today’s action by EPA to reduce levels of 6 PFAS chemicals from people’s drinking water is monumental and will improve the health … Continue reading EPA announces limits to PFAS in drinking water

We applaud EPA for new rule reducing EtO emissions

~ PRHE

The following statement is from Dr. Tracey J. Woodruff, former EPA senior scientist, UCSF professor, and director of the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and the UCSF EaRTH Center on EPA’s new rule on EtO, ethylene oxide: “We applaud EPA for strengthening standards to reduce emissions of cancer-causing EtO (ethylene oxide). This … Continue reading We applaud EPA for new rule reducing EtO emissions

EPA rulemaking continues to ignore real world chemical risks

~ PRHE

EPA recently issued Proposed Revisions to the Risk Evaluation Framework Rule, which was originally issued in 2017 and established guidelines to govern how EPA conducts risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The Proposed Revisions provide critical updates to the original framework rule, that we applaud, but the Revisions fall short in several … Continue reading EPA rulemaking continues to ignore real world chemical risks

Tracey J. Woodruff testifies before Congress

~ PRHE ~ 1 Comment

PRHE’s Director, Dr. Tracey Woodruff, testified before Congress on Oct 18, 2023 at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Materials on EPA's efforts to regulate ethylene oxide (EtO). She was one of four witnesses at the hearing; two were CEOs of the country's largest chemical companies and … Continue reading Tracey J. Woodruff testifies before Congress

EPA’s recent TSCA rulemakings fail to protect workers and communities of color

~ PRHE

Over the past four months, EPA issued proposed rulemakings under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that relied on scientific methods that fail to protect susceptible subgroups from harmful toxic chemical exposures. Using methods developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), scientists at PRHE estimated that workers and fenceline community residents — groups that are … Continue reading EPA’s recent TSCA rulemakings fail to protect workers and communities of color

How and why to close the exposure assessment gap

~ PRHE

Quantitative risk assessments underpin most of our federal regulations related to chemicals. Therefore, it is important to understand how and why risk assessments can go astray. Risk assessment brings together concepts of hazard (the potential for a chemical to result in an adverse health outcome, such as carcinogenicity) and exposure. Combining multiple sources of information … Continue reading How and why to close the exposure assessment gap