EPA is launching a new rulemaking to restrict the use of so-called long-chain perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in carpets, recognizing growing concerns over the chemicals' toxicity and their widespread presence in the environment by preventing industry from re-introducing the voluntarily phased-out substances, sources say.
EPA, in an April Action Initiation List (AIL) released June 22, says it plans to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking within the next 12 months to announce an upcoming significant new use rule (SNUR) for perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFAS) and long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFAC) for use in carpets. The SNUR, to be issued under Toxic Substances Control Act section 5(a)(2), would “require persons to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing the manufacture, import, or processing of [PFAS] and long-chain [PFAC] for use as part of carpets.
“The required notification would provide EPA with the opportunity to evaluate the intended use and, if necessary, to prohibit or limit that activity before it occurs,” EPA says.
The SNUR, which EPA plans to issue within the next year, is expected to be what is known as a “dead chemical SNUR.” According to EPA's website, the agency relies on dead chemical SNURs to ensure that once a chemical has been phased out for certain uses, “no company will be able to resume manufacturing or processing the chemical for that use without prior notice to the agency.” Issuing a dead chemical SNUR “can prevent older chemical substances that we now know to be dangerous from returning to the market after responsible companies have replaced them with safer substances.”
Long-chain PFCs are bioaccumulative and persistent chemicals widely found in the environment, and are commonly found in wildlife and humans, EPA says on its website. They have been found to be toxic to laboratory animals and wildlife, causing reproductive, developmental and systemic effects in lab tests, it says.
Currently, long-chain PFCs are generally not used in carpets, either domestically or in imports, in large part due to industry's agreement with EPA to phase out perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and related chemicals, one source says. Under EPA's 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program, eight major U.S. manufacturers of PFCs class reached an agreement with EPA in 2006 to phase out the chemicals. These companies developed alternatives to long-chain PFCs, which are now used in domestic carpets.
Sources say the planned move is an attempt to level the playing field for manufacturers, similar to EPA's SNUR for flame retardants known as polybrominated diphenyl ether. It would reward the domestic manufacturers that are participating in the PFOA voluntary Stewardship Program and have phased out these chemicals and limit any benefits to off-shore manufacturers that could still bring in these products, one legal expert on TSCA says, noting that SNURs also create commercial stigmas for chemicals, discouraging the commercialization of chemicals EPA wants to eliminate.
Through the upcoming SNUR, EPA is recognizing the toxicity of some PFCs and their widespread presence in the environment, and is trying to limit further background exposures to the general public, one toxicologist says.
But EPA and other regulators are increasingly finding widespread legacy contamination from PFCs, prompting fears of extensive cleanup requirements in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Minnesota, Alabama and other states where the chemicals were produced.
A spokeswoman for DuPont, one of the parties to EPA's PFOA Stewardship Program, is welcoming EPA's proposed action outlined in the AIL. “DuPont supports the direction EPA is taking to establish a regulatory framework for long-chain perfluorinated compounds. We and other members of industry are making strong progress in transitioning to alternatives to long-chain perfluorinated compounds,” she said in a written statement.
EPA has previously issued SNURs for certain uses of PFCs, issuing SNURs in 2000 and 2002 to restrict the return of 88 PFOS-related chemicals phased out by the chemical company 3M in the U.S. market, and issuing a final SNUR in 2007 for 183 PFAS chemicals, allowing a small set of continued excluded uses.
From InsideEPA.com
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