by Jbs081910 a3 — August 23, 2010—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released action plans August 18 to address the potential health risks of benzidine dyes, hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and nonylphenol (NP)/nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), chemicals that are widely used in both consumer and industrial applications. The plans identify a range of actions the agency is considering under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Benzidine dyes are used in the production of consumer textiles, paints, printing inks, paper and pharmaceuticals. HBCD is used as a flame retardant in expanded polystyrene foam in the building and construction industry, as well as in some consumer products. NP/NPEs are used in many industrial applications and consumer products such as detergents, cleaners, agricultural and indoor pesticides, as well as food packaging. These chemicals have all been detected in people.
The actions on the chemicals include adding HBCD and NP/NPE to EPA’s new Chemicals of Concern list, issuing significant new use rules for all three chemicals, and, for HBCD and benzidine dyes, imposing new reporting requirements on EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory, and potentially banning or limiting the manufacture or use of the chemicals.
In addition to EPA’s efforts, the Textile Rental Services Association, which represents 98 percent of the industrial laundry facilities in the U.S., has committed to voluntarily phase out the use of NPEs in industrial liquid detergents by December 31, 2013, and industrial powder detergents by the end of 2014.
