Articles

In April 2009, EPA identified a final list of 67 chemicals for initial screening under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). From October 2009 to April 2010, the agency issued more than 700 test orders. Responding to an EDSP test order can present challenging issues. The agency began implementing this mandate well over a decade ago through the EDSP....

The arsenic Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment exemplifies the current administration’s unwillingness to walk its own talk on transparency and scientific integrity....

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) allows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to keep a list of chemicals that present or may present ‘‘an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.’’ This authority has not been used since TSCA was enacted in 1976. In April, EPA said it intends to propose a rule to add a category of eight phthalates, a category of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and bisphenol A to such a...

James V. Aidala began working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a college intern in the Office of Pesticide Programs; he returned as a policy analyst in the new Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPTS) after graduate school. From Aidala’s perspective, there was much uncertainty in the early years of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), in part due to challenges with the law’s specificity regarding polychlorinated biphenyls and, later, asbestos and lead, and...

Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed lifting its 1994 administrative stay of Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Section 313 reporting requirements for hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Following is an explanation of why some are concerned, why EPA proposed lifting the stay, and why reporting may be unnecessary in the first place....

Recent advances in contaminant identification methodologies, sampling instrumentation, and analytical chemistry have caused an explosion of knowledge about the presence of previously undetected organic micropollutants. While it doesn’t follow that the mere presence of chemical contaminants results in harm, public health experts, regulators, and others aren’t sitting idly by....

A Recent co-authored paper discussed a number of fundamental changes in U.S. regulation of commercial chemicals that should be considered in revising the Toxic Substances Control Act. As discussed in that paper, while the Environmental Protection Agency under TSCA has broad authority to require testing and reporting of hazard and exposure information on existing chemicals via rulemaking, deploying these authorities have proven cumbersome and inadequate for dealing effectively with the thousands...

In the super-hyped world of nano, nanosilver is the proverbial poster child for all things good and evil, depending upon your perspective. Silver enjoys many commercial applications, and its well recognized antimicrobial properties have been utilized since the beginnings of recorded history. Perhaps because of this success and high visibility, some are taking aim at silver and questioning whether there is too much silver used in industrial applications — and in particular whether there is...

Late last December, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced action plans on phthalates, long-chain chlorinated paraffins (LCCPs), and short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs). The four action plans are the first of many, as EPA intends to issue eight more or so in 2010. This EPA initiative announces actions that are almost breathtaking in scope, and its development and implementation of the action plan items will set a number of new precedents —...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began the Herculean task of aligning the U.S.’s Hazardous Communication Standard (HCS) with the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) in September 2009. GHS provides harmonized criteria for classifying chemicals according to their health and physical hazards, and specifies hazard communication elements for labeling and creating safety data sheets (SDS)....