U.S. EPA Reclassifies Six Chemicals as Less Toxic

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U.S. EPA Reclassifies Six Chemicals as Less Toxic

 

November 22, 2004

By: Staff

 

Environmental News Service

 

WASHINGTON, DC, November 19, 2004 (ENS) - At the request of the

chemical industry, one chemical has been removed from the federal list

of air toxics, and five others have been reclassified as less harmful

than previously thought, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(news - web sites) (EPA) said Thursday. The agency says the move will

" create incentives for industry to use solvents that are less toxic

and may help decrease the formation of ground level ozone or smog. "

 

The solvent ethylene glycol mono-butyl ether (EGBE) has been removed

from the list of hazardous air pollutants, but it remains regulated as

a volative organic compound (VOC) and will continue to be reported in

the Toxics Release Inventory.

 

The chemical t-butyl acetate (TBAC) and four others have been exempted

from control as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

 

EGBE is used in hydraulic fluids and in water-based coatings for

various industries including metal can manufacturers. Frequently

referred to as butyl, it is also used in varnishes, vinyl and acrylic

paints, and as a solvent for varnishes, enamels, spray lacquers, dry

cleaning compounds, textiles and cosmetics.

 

EGBE is sometimes formulated into water based cleaners, degreasers and

wax and finish strippers.

 

In 1997, the EPA received a petition in 1997 from the American

Chemistry Council to delist EGBE. After two analyses, the agency says

it determined that outdoor use of the chemical would not be harmful to

humans or the environment.

 

" After extensively reviewing the levels of EGBE in the air and the

health and environmental impacts associated with those levels, EPA has

concluded that potential outdoor exposures to EGBE may not reasonably

be anticipated to cause human health or environmental problems, " the

agency said in a statement Thursday.

 

The agency admits that " EGBE use and, therefore, emissions may

increase as a result of this action, " it creates incentives for

industry " to use EGBE instead of other more toxic solvents. "

 

But indoor use is a different story. An analysis of EGBE effects by by

Roger McFadden, technical director of Coastwide Laboratories, a

Pacific Northwest chain of 11 labs, finds that indoor use of the

chemical in wax and finish strippers is likely to cause health problems.

 

EGBE has been shown to be toxic to liver, kidneys, lungs and red blood

cells, according to a report given to the American Occupational Health

Conference, in the spring of 1994, by Lawrence W. Raymond, M.D., East

Carolina University School of Medicine. The report says seven floor

care workers reported nausea, severe eye and upper respiratory

irritation when exposed to wax strippers containing EGBE.

 

The Material Safety Data Sheet for EGBE states, " Acute effects are

narcosis and irritation to eyes and skin ... Chronic effects are blood

effects and injury to liver and kidney. "

 

In 1990, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

(NIOSH) recommended a standard for exposure to EGBE on the job. NIOSH

is an agency of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

 

NIOSH said animal studies " clearly demonstrated " the " dose-related

adverse effects " of EGBE on the central nervous system, the blood, the

kidneys, and the liver. The agency recommended the limit for air or

inhalation exposure to EGBE at five parts per million (ppm).

 

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), another

agency under the Centers for Disease Control, also has warnings posted

about EGBE. " Butoxyethanol can cause reproductive effects and birth

defects in animals, " this agency found.

 

But oxyethanol does not seem to cause mutations. No studies were found

that tested either 2-butoxyethanol or 2-butoxyethanol acetate for

causing cancer in animals.

 

TBAC is a chemical that is used to make pharmaceuticals and

pesticides, and it also can be used as a solvent.

 

In 1997, the EPA received a petition from Lyondell Chemical, formerly

ARCO Chemical, asking that TBAC be excluded from the definition - and

the level of regulation - of a volatile organic compound.

 

On Thursday, the agency complied, announcing that TBAC meets the

criteria used to define a compound as negligibly reactive.

 

Exclusion of this compound as a VOC " will help states focus on

controlling emissions of those pollutants that are demonstrated to be

ozone precursors, " the EPA said.

 

The agency said that " a number of manufacturers of paints, inks, and

adhesives have indicated that if TBAC were excluded from regulation as

a VOC, they would use it in their products in place of other compounds

that are as much as 20 to 30 times more likely to form ground level

ozone, or smog. "

 

These substitutions will help decrease smog, the EPA said.

 

But the agency used a different criteria for evaluating whether TBAC

is " negligibly reactive " than it has ever used before.

 

When the EPA determines that a chemical is less reactive than the

baseline chemical ethane, the agency considers it " negligibly

reactive " and can exclude it from the definition of a volatile

organical compound. If the chemical is not classed as a VOC it can

avoid the stricter regulations applied to VOCs.

 

Reactivities can be compared on either a per-gram - or weight - basis,

or on a per-mole - or mass - basis. TBAC is less reactive than ethane

on a per-gram basis, but more reactive on a per-mole basis.

 

The EPA usually evaluates substances on a per-mole basis, but the

agency chose to evaluate TBAC on the per-gram basis, " since grams,

rather than moles, is the unit used in regulations dealing with VOC

emissions, " the agency said.

 

" This is the only case in which EPA has classified a compound as

negligibly reactive solely on the per-gram basis, " it explained in the

proposed rule.

 

TBAC, tert-Butyl acetate, is a flammable, colorless liquid with a

fruity odor. On the job, the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (news - web sites) (OSHA) says that exposure to

tert-butyl acetate causes eye, skin, and respiratory irritation in

workers and may act as a central nervous system depressant at high

concentrations.

 

If tert-butyl acetate vapors are inhaled, OSHA recommends, move the

victim at once to fresh air and get medical care as soon as possible.

If tert-butyl acetate or a solution containing this substance contacts

the skin, the contaminated skin should be flushed with large amounts

of water for at least 15 minutes and should then be washed with soap

and water.

 

The EPA also is excluding four chemicals - HFE-7000, HFE-7500, HFC

227ea, and methyl formate - from control as volatile organic compounds.

 

Used as refrigerants, fire suppressants, and propellants, the agency

said these chemicals " contribute little or nothing to ground level

ozone formation. "

 

These four compounds are preferable substitutes for CFCs and HCFCs,

which contribute to the destruction of Earths stratospheric ozone

layer. This protective layer which keeps out harmful ultra-violet rays

from the Sun, exists above the ground level atmospheric level that can

be contaminated with smog.

 

In a separate action, EPA is taking the pesticide phosmet off the

Extremely Hazardous Substance list under the Emergency Planning and

Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA). That means that state emergency

response commissions and local emergency planning committee will no

longer have to include phosmet in their emergency plans.

 

Phosmet is a non-systemic organophosphate insecticide used for

agricultural crop protection of fruit, nut and certain field crops

that will still be classed as a hazardous chemical, " except, " said the

EPA, " when it is used in routine agricultural operations, such as a

pesticide applied on crops. "

 

Facilities that process or distribute phosmet would still be have to

submit inventory and material safety data sheets if they have phosmet

present in amounts equal to or greater than 10,000 pounds.

 

The EPA also will continue to regulate phosmet under the agencys

existing pesticide regulatory program.

 

To learn more:

 

EBGE: Copies of the original petition and its supporting information

are available for public inspection and copying at the following

address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation

Docket and Information Center (6102), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20460. For further information including the final

rule and the Federal Register notice once published, go to EPAs web

site at: http://www.epa.gov/airlinks/airlinks1.html .

 

TBAC: Interested parties can download the rule from the EPAs web site

on the Internet under recent actions at the following address:

http://www.epa.gov/airlinks/airlinks1.html .

 

Additional Compounds: Interested parties can download the final rule

from EPAs web site on the Internet under recent actions at the

following address: http://www.epa.gov/airlinks/airlinks1.html .

 

Phosmet: For more information on phosmet, go to:

http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/op/phosmet.htm . For information on the

Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, go to:

http://yosemite.epa.gov/oswer/ceppoweb.nsf/content/epcraOverview.htm