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Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist and Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
This post is the first of a number to come that will examine in some detail specific chemicals and chemical categories for which EPA has made questionable or flawed risk decisions under ChAMP. Many of these problems can be traced to EPA’s near-exclusive reliance on incomplete or poor-quality data provided by manufacturers, or its need to resort to unsupported assumptions in the absence of sufficient data. For each posting, we’ll summarize what is known about production and use of the chemical(s); describe EPA’s hazard, exposure, risk and priority rankings; and then discuss why we question or disagree with EPA’s decisions. First up: a category of three alkyl nitriles. (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
[Earlier posts in this series can be found here and here.]
Over the past decade, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has pursued a voluntary program, the High Production Volume (HPV) Chemical Challenge, as a means to fill the enormous gaps in publicly available data on the hazards of the most widely used chemicals in the U.S. Using the Challenge data, EPA has recently begun assessing HPV chemicals under its Chemical Assessment and Management Program (ChAMP). But is ChAMP up to the job? (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
[The first post in this series can be found here.]
Some in the chemical industry point to EPA’s New Chemicals Program as a robust program, one that could serve as a model for reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Most recently, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) did so in its testimony at a recent House of Representatives subcommittee’s TSCA oversight hearing. So just how robust is EPA’s program on new chemicals? (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
For the past several years, EDF has been in the thick of discussions about whether the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) needs reform and, if so, what form it should take. Happily, the former question has largely been answered: With only a few remaining holdouts, even the chemical industry acknowledges the time has come. So now we can move on to what such reform should look like – and what it should not. (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
You may have noticed some subtle changes to the look of this page. That’s because EDF has decided to expand the focus of this blog to include the policy, legislative, regulatory and scientific issues surrounding the health and environmental impacts of chemicals, as well as nanomaterials. (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
In a previous post, I argued that the European Union’s REACH Regulation for chemicals goes a long way to address the regulatory needs for nanomaterials – despite the fact that REACH never mentions nano and was not developed with nano in mind. I also noted, however, that REACH will clearly need more than fine-tuning to ensure adequate nano oversight. Apparently at least some in the European Parliament agree. (more…)
