EPA Says Research Articles

Formaldehyde poses health risks, EPA says

Formaldehyde poses health risks, EPA says

EPA says no to ban on flea collars

EPA says no to ban on flea collars

EPA says no to ban on flea collars

EPA says no to ban on flea collars

EPA finds no PFAS in 10 pesticides

The US Environmental Protection Agency did not find any per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in 10 pesticides, 6 of which were previously reported to contain low parts-per-million levels of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). The results in question were published last year by researchers at Texas Tech University and the US Department of Agriculture ( J. Haz. Mat. Lett. DOI: 10.1016/j.hazl.2022.100067 ). The sample-preparation method used in that study involved solvent dilution, which could have led to erroneous results, the EPA says. The agency suggests that the researchers may have multiplied background levels of PFOS by a large dilution factor, which would result in an overexaggerated concentration or false-positive identification. The EPA developed an extraction method that it says is a more appropriate preparation method than solvent dilution for pesticides containing nonvolatile oil and nonionic surfactants. The agency obtained samples of the 10 pesticides from the study authors and also purchased 4

EPA to adopt nonanimal testing for endocrine effects

The US Environmental Protection Agency plans to revamp its Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), a 25-year-old effort to screen chemicals for their ability to disrupt estrogen, androgen, and thyroid hormonal systems. In a draft white paper released Jan. 19, the EPA says certain nonanimal methods can be used as alternatives to vertebrate animal screening tests. The EPA estimates that it costs industry about $1 million per chemical and takes up to 6 years to conduct the current battery of assays in the first tier of the EDSP. Six of the assays involve the use of animals. T he agency has so far ordered first-tier testing for a small fraction of the thousands of chemicals subject to the EDSP. It issued the first set of screening orders for 67 pesticides in 2009, and 4 years later it finalized a second set of 109 chemicals. Lawyers who work closely with the chemical

EPA affirms ethylene oxide’s health hazards

The US Environmental Protection Agency has roundly rejected a controversial, chemical industry–backed analysis of the health hazards of ethylene oxide. In a Dec. 21 notice , the EPA says it is standing firm on an assessment of the carcinogenic gas that the agency finalized in 2016 after extensive scientific peer review and public comment. The agency concludes there is no new scientific evidence that would alter key aspects of that hazard evaluation. The EPA says it will maintain a 2020 Clean Air Act regulation for chemical manufacturers that relies on its assessment. The regulation requires companies to curb ethylene oxide emissions from leaks, vents, and storage tanks to protect the health of people living near industrial plants. Ethylene oxide is a chemical building block made from natural gas or petroleum. It is used to produce surfactants and plastics and to sterilize medical equipment. In 2020, the Texas Commission on Environmental

EPA seeks to boost reporting on PFAS releases

More US companies would have to file reports on their releases of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the environment if the Environmental Protection Agency finalizes its plans. Later this year, the EPA will propose eliminating an option for companies to skip annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting of PFAS, the agency announced July 28 . Many companies have used the option to avoid reporting. More than 175 PFAS, many of which are toxic at low concentrations, are on the TRI. Facilities that manufacture, process, or use at least 45 kg a year of any of these chemicals must file TRI reports. But the EPA has received few reports on PFAS since Congress added these compounds to the TRI in 2019. Preliminary TRI data for 2021 include reports from 45 facilities on a total of 46 PFAS, the EPA says. For 2020, only 39 facilities filed collectively on 43 PFAS.

LyondellBasell facilities draw fines and lawsuits

LyondellBasell Industries has agreed to install $50 million of emission control equipment and pay $3.4 million in fines to settle an enforcement action by the US Environmental Protection Agency . Separately, the family of a worker killed in a July 27 accident at a LyondellBasell facility is suing the company for $1 million. The EPA complaint concerns 21 flares at LyondellBasell facilities in Iowa and Texas. The flares are intended to oxidize unrecoverable methane, ethane, and other hydrocarbons into CO 2 . The EPA says improper operation of the flares has led to emissions of particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, ozone, and other pollutants. On some of the flares , LyondellBasell will install recovery equipment to capture the waste hydrocarbons instead of flaring them. The firm will also install monitoring and control equipment to ensure complete combustion, and it will perform and publicly disclose fence-line air quality measurements. The settlement

EPA cuts back US production of HFCs

The US Environmental Protection Agency is ratcheting down US production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are extremely potent greenhouse gases, and is proposing that two chemical plants destroy an HFC made as a by-product. A regulation that administrator Michael S. Regan signed Sept. 23 implements a 2020 law that mandates the phasedown of HFC production in the US to 15% of 2011–13 average levels by 2036. The EPA projects that the reduction of emissions from 2022 to 2050 will be equivalent to 4.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. Separately, the EPA is proposing a regulation that specifically targets HFC-23 , or fluoroform, which is generated as a by-product at plants making hydrorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). HFC-23 has a “substantially longer” lifetime in the atmosphere and a higher global warming potential than any other HFC, the EPA says. The regulation would require chemical manufacturers to control, capture, and destroy HFC-23. Like the rest

US EPA declines to order phosphogypsum toxicity tests

The US Environmental Protection Agency denied a request from environmental groups to order testing to evaluate the human health and environmental risks of waste phosphogypsum and water from phosphoric acid production. The petitioners claim that the waste products are radioactive and toxic. Phosphoric acid is made from mined phosphate, most of which in the US is found in mineral deposits in Florida. Phosphogypsum is created during the production of phosphate fertilizers from phosphoric acid. Reports of a leaking holding pond at a former phosphate plant in Florida in April elevated concerns about the ecological risks of such waste. In a May 6 response to the testing request, the EPA says that “the petitioners have not provided the facts necessary for the Agency to determine for phosphogypsum and process wastewater that existing information and experience are insufficient and testing with respect to such effects is necessary.” The EPA plans to issue

EPA yanks assessment of PFBS

Political meddling and a breach of scientific integrity led the US Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a toxicity assessment for perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), the EPA says. PFBS is...

Dow to spend millions to clean up air pollution

Dow Chemical and two of its subsidiaries will spend $294 million to curb air pollution from four petrochemical plants in Louisiana and Texas, under a proposed settlement with environmental regulators. The US Environmental Protection Agency alleges that the facilities failed to properly operate and monitor flares when burning off waste gases, thus violating the Clean Air Act. This led to release of volatile organic compounds and toxic air pollutants including benzene, a human carcinogen, the EPA says. Under the proposed settlement, released Jan. 27, Dow and subsidiaries Performance Materials and Union Carbide will reduce flaring and improve combustion of waste gases from the four plants, which manufacture olefins or polymers. The settlement covers facilities in Hahnville and Plaquemine, Louisiana, as well as Freeport and Orange, Texas. “Those controls, plus a requirement for fence line monitoring of benzene emissions, will result in significant benefits” for nearby communities of color, Larry Starfield,

3 PFAS disposal technologies are most promising, US EPA says

3 PFAS disposal technologies are most promising, US EPA says

NMP poses low risk to consumers, US EPA says

NMP poses low risk to consumers, US EPA says

Detergent impurity not a risk to consumers, US EPA says

Detergent impurity not a risk to consumers, US EPA says

Common herbicide likely to harm endangered species, US EPA says

Common herbicide likely to harm endangered species, US EPA says

Dozens of methylene chloride uses pose health risks, EPA says

Nearly all uses of methylene chloride examined by the US Environmental Protection Agency pose “unreasonable” health risks to workers and consumers, the agency concludes in a final assessment releas...

Glyphosate is not carcinogenic, US EPA says

Glyphosate is not carcinogenic, US EPA says

EPA evaluating whether to require reporting of PFAS releases

In a move that could affect the fluorochemical industry and its customers, the US Environmental Protection Agency is weighing whether to require facilities to report their annual emissions of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The agency is asking the public for feedback on which of 600 PFAS in US commerce it should consider for such reporting under the federal Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Researchers have identified a number of PFAS in drinking-water supplies across the US. The handful of PFAS that have been studied adversely affect the livers and thyroid hormones of laboratory animals. In a Nov. 25 announcement, the EPA says it will consider lower reporting thresholds for releases of PFAS than is standard under the TRI. For most materials on the inventory, companies that manufacture or process at least 11,340 kg of any of those chemicals or facilities that otherwise use at least 4,536 kg of a substance

EPA aims to crack down on ethylene oxide emissions

US chemical manufactures would have to trim their annual emissions of ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic gas, under an Environmental Protection Agency proposal. Ethylene oxide emissions from chemical manufacturing plants would be reduced by about 9 metric tons (t) per year under the proposed regulation, the EPA says. The agency wants to require facilities to control emissions of the gas from storage tanks, vents, and leaky equipment. Chemical plants collectively reported emitting about 100 t of ethylene oxide in 2018, according to the EPA Toxics Release Inventory. Of this, about 42 t were fugitive emissions that leak from vents, pumps, and valves, the inventory data show. Ethylene oxide is a chemical building block for making plastics, detergents, medicines, solvents, and a slew of other products. It is also used to sterilize medical devices. The proposed rule, which the EPA unveiled Nov. 6, is aimed at trimming about 105 t of hazardous