Performance Chemistries Weekly Roundup – 3.25.21

1-4-Dioxane:

• According to Inside EPA, a coalition of 14 states and two cities filed a petition for review against the EPA, criticizing the Trump administration’s Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) evaluation of 1,4-dioxane, released December 31, 2020. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) stated the action is intended to “support the Biden Administration’s remedy of numerous deficiencies in the risk evaluation…[which] minimizes or dismisses 1,4-dioxane’s dangers to workers, residents of low-income communities, communities of color, and the general public.” In addition to New York, petitioners include Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, the District of Columbia, and New York City.
• Citing COVID-19-related delays in receiving carbon filtration systems, WLNY-TV Online reported that 21 Long Island, NY water districts were granted two-year deferrals in meeting new drinking water standards for 1,4-dioxane, PFOS, and PFOA. New York State adopted the new drinking water standards last year.

Phthalates:

• According to an op-ed published in The Guardian, increased exposure to chemicals, such as phthalates and PFAS, is “to blame” for a reproductive health “crisis.”
• In an article on the “Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act,” being reintroduced today by Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), E&E News noted that phthalates, certain bisphenol compounds, and halogenated or nanoscale flame retardant chemicals are included in the bill under the definition of “toxic substances.”

Trichloroethylene (TCE):

• According to Inside EPA, EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) acting assistant administrator, Michal Freedhoff, pointed to the agency’s Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) evaluation of TCE, which was completed last summer, as an example of “political interference.” Despite this assertion, Freedhoff has not signaled which path OCSPP will follow on TCE.

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)::

• According to Bloomberg Law, California’s Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced plans to list PFOA as a “carcinogen” under Proposition 65, based on findings outlined in a May 2020 National Toxicology Program (NTP) report. PFOA, which is no longer manufactured in the U.S., was listed as a “developmental toxicant” under Proposition 65 in 2017. OEHHA is accepting comments through May 3.
• As reported by E&E News, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies “probed” how PFAS exposure may be “harming” military health during a hearing yesterday.