On October 29, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a Federal Register notice announcing the availability of the draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation for methylene chloride (MC). 84 Fed. Reg. 57866. As reported in our October 26, 2019, blog item, EPA is submitting the same document to the TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for peer review. SACC will convene an in-person public meeting to consider and review the draft risk evaluation on December 3-4, 2019. Preceding the in-person meeting, there will be a preparatory virtual public meeting on November 12, 2019, for SACC to consider the scope and clarity of the draft charge questions for the peer review. Registration for the preparatory virtual meeting must be completed on or before November 12, 2019, to receive the webcast meeting link and audio teleconference information. Written comments for the preparatory virtual meeting and requests for time to present oral comments are due by 12:00 p.m. on November 8, 2019. Written comments on the draft risk evaluation that are submitted to EPA on or before November 26, 2019, will be provided to SACC for review and consideration before the December 3-4, 2019, meeting. Requests to present oral comments at the in-person meeting are due December 3, 2019. Comments on the draft risk evaluation are due December 30, 2019.
The draft risk evaluation states that EPA’s initial determinations of unreasonable risk for the specific conditions of use of MC listed below are based on health risks to workers, occupational non-users (ONU), consumers, or bystanders from consumer use. According to the draft risk evaluation, risks to the general population either were not relevant for these conditions of use or were evaluated and not found to be unreasonable.
- Unreasonable Risk to Workers: EPA determined that the conditions of use that presented unreasonable risks included processing MC into a formulation or mixture; all but two industrial and commercial uses; and disposal;
- Unreasonable Risks to ONUs: For ONUs, EPA determined that the conditions of use that presented unreasonable risks included import of MC, processing MC as a reactant in several industrial sectors, some industrial and commercial uses, and disposal. EPA determined in some cases that a condition of use presented an unreasonable risk not only to workers but also to ONUs; in other cases, EPA determined that a condition of use presented an unreasonable risk only to one or the other.
- Unreasonable Risk to Consumers: EPA determined that all but two consumer conditions of use present unreasonable risks.
- Unreasonable Risk to Bystanders (from Consumer Uses): When EPA determined that a condition of use presented risks to consumers, unreasonable risks were often, but not always, identified for bystanders.
A more detailed summary of the draft risk evaluation and commentary will be available in our forthcoming memorandum.