In the summer of 2016, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law an amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) which included, among other things, new authority for U.S. EPA to assess and regulate existing chemicals already in commerce. On November 29, 2016, EPA announced the first ten chemicals that it will evaluate for risks to human health and the environment. As expected, the list includes asbestos and the following chemicals: 1,4-dioxane, 1-bromopropane, carbon tetrachloride, cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster, methylene chloride, N-methylpyrrolidone, pigment violet 29, tetrachloroethylene (a/k/a perchloroethylene), and trichloroethylene.
Within six months, EPA is expected to issue a "scoping document" identifying the scope of its evaluations for each chemical and the evaluations could ultimately lead to restrictions on use of the particular chemicals being evaluated.
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