EPA names 10 chemicals to review under TSCA

Following Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform legislation, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Nov. 29, 2016 that it will evaluate 10 chemicals "for potential risks to human health and the environment." The ten include 1,4-Dioxane, Asbestos, and Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene (or "perc"). EPA "must release a scoping document within six months for each chemical" and additional chemicals will be designated for evaluation... By the end of 2019, EPA must have at least 20 chemical risk valuations ongoing at any given time."

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) included more information about the chemicals, their uses, and effects. A Nov. 28, 2016 article in Chemical and Engineering News said that "more than 50 countries around the world have banned the use of asbestos, a known human carcinogen linked to lung cancer, mesothelioma, and other diseases. But two Western industrialized countries—the U.S. and Canada—have not taken such steps." Canada recently announced plans to ban asbestos by 2018.