The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a revision to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk determination for trichloroethylene (TCE), finding that TCE presents an unreasonable risk to humans.
The next step in the process is to develop a risk management rulemaking to identify and require the implementation of measures to manage these risks.
TCE is a cleaning agent used mostly in industrial and commercial processes. Consumer uses include cleaning and furniture care products, arts and crafts, spray coatings and automotive care products like brake cleaners.
In the revised risk determination based on the 2020 risk evaluation, EPA says that TCE presents unreasonable risk to the health of workers, occupational non-users (workers nearby but not in direct contact with this chemical), consumers, and bystanders. EPA identified risks for adverse human health effects not related to cancer, including neurotoxicity and liver effects, from acute and chronic inhalation and dermal exposures to TCE. EPA also identified risks for cancer from chronic inhalation and dermal exposures to TCE.
EPA says it is moving forward on risk management to address the unreasonable risk presented by TCE. While the risk evaluation included a description of the more sensitive endpoint (fetal heart malformations), it was not relied on to determine whether there is unreasonable risk from TCE because of direction not to do so that was provided by the previous political leadership.
In June 2021, EPA announced a path forward for the first 10 chemicals to undergo risk evaluation under TSCA to ensure the public is protected from unreasonable risks from these chemicals in a way that is supported by science and the law. The revised risk determination for TCE was developed in accordance with these policy changes, as well as the Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Orders and other directives, including those on environmental justice, scientific integrity and regulatory review. EPA’s revisions ensure that the TCE risk determination better aligns with the objectives of protecting health and the environment under amended TSCA.
