Toxic-Free Future is dedicated to creating a healthier future by promoting the use of safer products, chemicals and practices through cutting-edge research, advocacy, mass organization and consumer engagement.
        WASHINGTON, District of Columbia. Today, EPA Assistant Administrator Michal Friedhoff proposed a final rule to manage the “unreasonable risk” found in the EPA’s assessment of methylene chloride under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The rule would ban all consumers and most commercial and industrial uses of methylene chloride, with the exception of certain federal agencies and manufacturers. The proposed rule is the second final action proposed under the reformed TSCA for “existing” chemicals, following the EPA’s chrysotile rule. Once the rule is published in the Federal Register, a 60-day comment period will begin.
        The proposed rule bans any consumer and most industrial and commercial uses of the chemical, including degreasers, stain removers, and paint or coating removers, among others, and establishes workplace protection requirements for two time-limited critical use permits. Toxic Free Future welcomed the proposal, urging the EPA to finalize the rule and extend its protection to all workers as soon as possible.
        “Too many families have been through too many tragedies because of this chemical; too many workers have been affected by its exposure to their workplaces. Although it failed, the US Environmental Protection Agency has made significant progress in removing the chemicals,” Liz said. . Hitchcock, director of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, a federal drug-free future policy program. “Nearly seven years ago, Congress updated the TSCA to allow the EPA to take such action on known chemical hazards. This rule will greatly reduce the use of this highly toxic chemical,” she continued.
        “Methylene chloride has long robbed American workers of their health, as well as paint and lubricants. The new EPA rule will accelerate the advancement of safer chemicals and safer practices that still get the job done,” said Charlotte Brody, RN, vice president of Occupational and Environmental Health, BlueGreen Alliance.
        “Five years ago, Lowe’s became the first major retailer to ban the use of methylene chloride in paint thinners, causing a domino effect among the nation’s largest retailers,” said Mike Shade, director of Mind the Store, whose project is Project Toxic. – Free future. “We are pleased that the EPA is finally working with retailers to ban consumers and workers from using methylene chloride. This important new rule will go a long way in protecting consumers and workers from this cancer-causing chemical. The next steps for the EPA are to provide guidance to brands and retailers on assessing the hazards of alternatives to ensure that companies move towards truly safer solutions.”
        “We applaud this action, which will ultimately protect people from a deadly toxic chemical called methylene chloride,” said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, “but we also acknowledge that it took too long and cost too much many lives. Any chemical that poses such a serious and long-term threat to human health should not be placed on the public market.”
        “This is a great day for us to point out changes to our public health and environmental regulations that will obviously save lives, especially among workers exposed to toxic chemicals,” said Cindy Lu, director of Clean Water Action New England. members and coalition partners and testified directly in support of the operation. “We encourage EPA Biden to continue such direct action to reduce the burden on health, prevent harm to our health, and reflect current science.”
        Dichloromethane, also known as dichloromethane or DCM, is an organohalogen solvent used in paint thinners and other products. It has been associated with cancer, cognitive impairment, and immediate death by asphyxiation. Between 1985 and 2018, acute exposure to this chemical was responsible for 85 deaths in the United States, according to a peer-reviewed study by the UCSF Program for Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE).
        Since 2009, Toxic-Free Future and National Health Advocates have been working to strengthen federal protection against toxic chemicals. After years of advocacy by a coalition led by the Safe Chemicals for Healthy Families of a Toxic-Free Future Initiative, the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act was signed into law in 2016, giving the EPA the necessary authority to ban hazardous chemicals such as methylene chloride. From 2017 to 2019, the Toxic-Free Future’s Mind the Store program ran a nationwide campaign involving more than a dozen major retailers including Lowe’s, Home Depot, Walmart, Amazon and others to stop the sale of paint and coating remover chlorides that contain methylene. In 2022 and 2023, Toxin Free Future will bring coalition partners to comment, testify and meet with the EPA to advocate for a strict final rule.
        Toxic-Free Future is a national leader in research and environmental protection. Through the power of science, education and activism, Toxic Free Futures promotes strong laws and corporate responsibility to protect the health of all people and the planet. www.toxicfreefuture.org
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