Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a list of 20 chemical substances identified as low priority for risk evaluations under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), completing another TSCA requirement. A final designation as “low-priority” means that risk evaluations are not warranted at this time.
Today’s action is the result of a rigorous, transparent, and scientifically sound process to ensure chemicals in commerce do not pose unreasonable risks. This final list of low-priority chemicals will allow EPA to focus its risk evaluation efforts on the chemicals that could significantly impact public health and the environment.
To finalize this list of low-priority chemicals, EPA conducted an open and transparent process that included two opportunities for public comment. The agency considered reasonably available information for each chemical substance under its conditions of use as specified in TSCA. Additionally, these 20 low-priority chemicals are on EPA’s Safer Chemical Ingredients List, which includes chemicals that meet strict criteria for both human health and the environment.
TSCA required EPA to prioritize existing chemical substances for high- or low-priority designations. In December 2019, EPA designated 20 chemicals as high priority under TSCA, and those chemicals are now in the risk evaluation process.
For more information, visit https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/chemical-substances-undergoing-prioritization-low