Risk Determination for Trichloroethylene

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting public feedback on a proposed adjustment to the risk determination for the trichloroethylene (TCE) risk evaluation published under TSCA and is making it available for public review.

The announced policy adjustments to ensure that the public is protected from irrational risks from chemicals in a way that is supported by science and the law are reflected in the draught amendment to the TCE risk determination. The EPA concludes that TCE, as a whole chemical substance, offers an improbable risk of harm to health when assessed under its circumstances of use in this draught amendment to the risk determination. Additionally, this updated risk assessment does not include the premise that all employees will always wear PPE as directed (PPE)

EPA recognizes that occupational safety protections may be in place at workplace locations; however, not assuming the use of PPE reflects EPA's recognition that unreasonable risk may exist for subpopulations of workers who may be highly exposed because they are not covered by OSHA standards, or their employers are not in compliance with OSHA standards, or because many of OSHA's chemical-specific permissible exposure limits, largely adopted in the 1970s, are not described in the regulations.

Reference: https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-evaluation-trichloroethylene-tce-0#:~:text=In%20November%202020%2C%20EPA%20released,conditions%20of%20use%20of%20TCE.