On March 12, 2020, EPN sent a letter to EPA Administrator Wheeler calling for a ban on most uses of trichlorethylene (TCE) due to serious health risks demonstrated in EPA’s Notices of Proposed Rulemaking and draft risk evaluation for TCE under the Toxic Substances Control Act. TCE is a highly toxic substance used primarily to make refrigerants and other hydrofluorocarbons, as a degreasing solvent for metal equipment, and in dry cleaning. It poses serious health risks to adults, including cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and can cause heart defects and even death in fetuses. EPA has now determined on multiple occasions that the manufacture, processing, distribution in commerce, all uses, and disposal of TCE present an unreasonable risk to human health, but has failed to take regulatory action in a timely manner. EPN urges EPA to take immediate steps to ensure the adequate protection of human health.
Read the letter to Administrator Wheeler.