Cleaning House: Biden-Harris Administration want to Scrub Out Toxic TCE
On October 23, 2023, the US EPA announced a proposal to ban all uses of trichloroethylene (TCE), an extremely toxic compound known to cause numerous health effects including cancer, neurotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity. TCE has been used as a degreaser, cleaning agent, textile cleaning, furniture care products, brake cleaners, and solvent. Safer alternatives to TCE now exist. The action is taken under the Toxics Substance Control Act (TSCA) and will protect people from those various health risks by eliminating and banning all uses of TCE in manufacturing, processing, and distribution. US EPA’s proposed risk management rule would go into effect in one year for consumer products and most commercial uses and would implement stringent worker protections on the limited remaining commercial and industrial uses that would be phased down over a longer period.
The agency press release can be found here https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-proposes-ban-trichloroethylene-protect-public-toxic
Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted up to December 15, 2023, via docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0642. The complete proposed rule can be found here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/10/31/2023-23010/trichloroethylene-tce-regulation-under-the-toxic-substances-control-act-tsca
