United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an update to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory that lists chemicals that are being actively manufactured, processed, and imported into the United States.
A key result of the update is that less than half of the total number of chemicals in TSCA's current inventory (47 percent or 40,655 of the 86,228 chemicals) are currently in trade. As a result of a tremendous effort on behalf of thousands of stakeholders and manufacturers across the country, this information will help EPA focus risk assessment efforts on chemicals that are still on the market.
"It's important for us to know what chemicals are used today. This will help us with our work prioritizing chemicals, assessing and addressing risks. This information also increases transparency for the public," said Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dapolito Dunn.
In 2018, the TSCA Inventory showed more than 86,000 chemicals available for commercial production and use in the U.S. Until this update, it was not known which of these chemicals in the TSCA Inventory was marketed. Under the amended TSCA – Frank R. Lautenberg's 21st Century Safety Act – EPA was required to update the list and designate which chemicals are active or inactive in U.S. commerce.
More than 80 percent (32,898) of chemicals in commerce have identities that are not business confidential information (CBI), increasing public access to additional information about them. For less than 20 percent of chemicals in commerce that have confidential identities, EPA is developing a rule that outlines how the Agency will review and substantiate all CBI claims seeking to protect substance-specific chemical identities in the confidential portion of the TSCA Inventory.
From August 11, 2017 through October 5, 2018, chemical manufacturers and processors provided information on which chemicals were manufactured, imported, or processed in the United States during the past ten years, the period ending June 21, 2016. The agency received more than 90,000 responses, representing a major reporting effort by manufacturers, importers and processors.
To download the public version of the initial TSCA Inventory, learn more about the TSCA Inventory Notification Requirements (Active-Inactive) rule, or the requirements for notifying EPA in the future: http://www.epa.gov/tsca-inventory.
