The latest episode in the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) award-winning podcast series, “Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions,” focuses on development of a new ultra-light biodegradable foam plastic material made from two unlikely ingredients: The protein in milk and ordinary clay.

Direct to EPA Chemical Data Access Tool

…find health and safety information submitted to EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This information is intended for individuals interested in learning more about chemicals that are manufactured or imported into the United States.

From an Occupational Health and Safety Article:

A new Web-based Chemical Data Access Tool now allows users to conduct a chemical-specific search for health and safety studies that have been submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Information will be available from the following databases:

+ eDoc, which includes a broad range of health and safety information reported by industry under TSCA Sections 4,5, 8(d), and 8(e).

+ TSCATS (TSCA Test Submissions) is an online index to unpublished, nonconfidential studies covering chemical testing results and adverse effects of chemicals on health and ecological systems.

+ HPVIS (High Production Volume Information System) provides access to health and environmental effects information obtained through the High Production Volume (HPV) Challeng.

From an EPA Announcement:

In some instances the search tool makes this information accessible for the first time. It provides results based on data that currently is in a searchable format. The amount of searchable data will increase over time as additional information either is reported to the Agency electronically or is scanned from historically submitted documents. If you do not receive results for a particular chemical, it does not mean EPA does not have information on that chemical; the results may not be in the repository yet.

“The action plans announced today are examples of EPA’s renewed dedication to improve chemical safety to protect the health of the American people and the environment.” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “These action plans lay out concrete steps EPA intends to take to address the risks associated with chemicals commonly used in this country.”

Benzidine dyes are used in the production of consumer textiles, paints, printing inks, paper, and pharmaceuticals and may pose health problems, including cancer. HBCD is used as a flame retardant in expanded polystyrene foam in the building and construction industry, as well as in some consumer products. HBCD has been shown to be persistent and bioaccumulative in the environment and may pose potential reproductive, developmental, and neurological effects in people. 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 been detected in people.

The range of actions on these 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 Dec. 31, 2013 and industrial powder detergents by the end of 2014.

“While EPA intends to address the potential risks associated with these chemicals,” Owens stated, “we are pleased that the industrial laundry industry has decided to not wait for regulatory action to be completed by the agency and is voluntarily taking steps now to phase out the use of NPEs.”

EPA first announced that it planned to develop the Chemicals of Concern list last December, which indicates that the chemicals may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health and the environment. This previously unused TSCA authority signals the agency’s commitment to fully use the tools currently available, while supporting legislative reform of TSCA.

Additional information: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals

An early-stage company spun out of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, plans to commercialize a catalytic process for converting cellulosic biomass into five of the chemicals found in gasoline. These chemicals are also used to make industrial polymers and solvents. Anellotech, which is seeking venture funding, plans to build a pilot plant next year.

“Assuring the safety of chemicals is one of Administrator Jackson’s top priorities for EPA’s future,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.  “The American people are entitled to transparent, accessible information on chemicals that may pose a risk to their health or the environment. We will continue taking steps that increase transparency and assure the safety of chemicals in our products, our environment and our bodies.”

Under TSCA, companies may claim a range of sensitive, proprietary information as CBI.  Under Section 8(e) of TSCA, companies that manufacture, process, or distribute chemicals are required to immediately provide notice to EPA if they learn that a chemical presents a substantial risk of injury to health or the environment.  The Section 8(e) reports are made available on EPA’s Web site. However, until today, companies would routinely claim confidentiality for the actual identity of the chemical covered by the Section 8(e) submission, so the public posting of the information would not include the name of the chemical. The new policy announced today ends this practice for chemicals on the public portion of the TSCA Inventory. This new policy will increase the amount of information available by granting the public access to the chemical identification information submitted, along with other health and safety data under Section 8(e).

In the coming months, EPA intends to announce additional steps to further increase transparency of chemical information.

EPA’s new policy on TSCA Section 8(e) submissions is being published in the Federal Register.

More information on the new policy: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/tsca8e/

More information on EPA’s principles for comprehensive TSCA reform: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/principles.html

In her remarks at the Commonwealth Club, Administrator Jackson said:

“…as more and more chemicals are found in our bodies and the environment, the public is understandably anxious and confused. Many are turning to government for assurance that chemicals have been assessed using the best available science, and that unacceptable risks haven’t been ignored.

Our oversight of the 21st century chemical industry is based on the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act….over the years, not only has TSCA fallen behind the industry it’s supposed to regulate – it’s been proven an inadequate tool for providing the protection against chemical risks that the public rightfully expects.

Today I’m announcing clear Administration principles to guide Congress in writing a new chemical risk management law that will fix the weaknesses in TSCA.”

A copy of Administrator Jackson’s remarks as prepared for delivery can be found online at epa.gov/newsroom.

With the leadership of Senators Barbara Boxer and Frank Lautenberg and Representatives Henry Waxman and Bobby Rush, legislation strengthening TSCA is expected to be introduced shortly. The Obama Administration’s “Essential Principles for Reform of Chemicals Management Legislation” are intended to aid Congress during the legislative process. The principles, listed below, present the administration’s goals for legislation that will give EPA the mechanisms and authorities to expeditiously target chemicals of concern and promptly assess and regulate new and existing chemicals in commerce:

• Chemicals should be reviewed against risk-based safety standards based on sound science and protective of human health and the environment
• Manufacturers should provide EPA with the necessary information to conclude that new and existing chemicals are safe and do not endanger public health or the environment
• EPA should have clear authority to take risk management actions when chemicals do not meet the safety standard, with flexibility to take into account sensitive subpopulations, costs, social benefits, equity and other relevant considerations.
• Manufacturers and EPA should assess and act on priority chemicals, both existing and new, in a timely manner
• Green Chemistry should be encouraged and provisions assuring Transparency and Public Access to Information should be strengthened.
• EPA should be given a sustained source of funding for implementation

Although legislative reform is necessary for an effective chemicals management program, EPA is committed to strengthening the performance of the current program while Congress considers new legislation. This enhanced plan includes the development of chemical action plans which will outline the agency’s risk management efforts on those chemicals of greatest concern. EPA has identified an initial list of chemicals for possible risk management action and anticipates completing and posting an initial set of four action plans in December. It will complete and post additional chemical action plans in four-month intervals thereafter.

An additional focus will be accelerating efforts to gather the critical information from industry that the agency needs to make chemical risk determinations. This will include filling the current gaps in health and safety data on high production volume chemicals; enhanced, transparent, and more current reporting of use and exposure information; and a number of requirements for increased reporting on nanoscale chemical materials. In addition, EPA is reviewing how nanoscale materials are managed under TSCA. EPA is also reviewing ways to increase the public’s access to information about chemicals.

Prioritizing chemicals for future risk management action is the final component of this effort and EPA intends to formally engage stakeholders and the public in this discussion in the coming months.

The “Essential Principles for Reform of Chemicals Management Legislation” can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/principles.html.

Detailed information on EPA’s enhanced chemical management program, including information on specific components of this effort, an initial list of chemicals under consideration for Action Plan development, new hazard characterization for 100 chemicals, and risk management actions recently announced on lead and EPA’s plans for banning the use of mercury in certain products, can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/index.html.

Separate research initiatives in the U.S. and Canada are turning potato starch into high performance bioplastic packaging and using corn germ to reduce the amount of resin in glue.

DSM, a Dutch chemical and materials company, plans to release a greener version of a chemical used in polymers, resins, food and pharmaceuticals later this year.

The company is working in a version of succinic acid that is derived from plant starch instead of oil or gas, according to the Financial Times. DSM accounts for 10-15 percent of global production of succinic acid.

The Environmental Protection Agency for the first time will require pesticide manufacturers to test 67 chemicals contained in their products to determine whether they disrupt the endocrine system, which regulates animals’ and humans’ growth, metabolism and reproduction, the agency said yesterday.

Chemicals in cleaning products remove the streaks from our windows and make our countertops sparkle. But are they safe?

A new lawsuit brought by Earthjustice, a non-profit public interest law firm based in Oakland, Calif., along with a coalition of public health and environmental advocates, aims to make it easier for consumers to answer that question by forcing manufacturers to adhere to a decades-old New York State regulation that it says requires disclosure of the ingredients in household cleaning products.