Noah McCrory
The Environmental Protection Agency is banning most uses of a toxic chemical often used to refinish furniture and bathtubs that has been linked to dozens of deaths since the 1980s.
The agency announced a rule Tuesday that will limit all consumer uses of methylene chloride, as well as most industrial and commercial uses. Exempt uses include those “highly industrialized and important to national security and the economy,” such as environmentally friendly refrigerants and electric vehicle parts, according to the EPA.
The EPA is restricting the use of methylene chloride about six years after a CBS News investigation led three major retailers – Home Depot, Lowe’s and Sherwin-Williams – to agree to remove products with chemicals from their shelves until the end of 2018.
Methylene chloride is known to cause a number of cancers, as well as neurotoxicity and liver damage, while direct exposure can lead to death, according to the EPA. At least 88 people have died from acute exposure to methylene chloride since 1980, most of them working in bathtubs or removing paint, the agency said. The deaths included workers trained and equipped with personal protective equipment.
“Exposure to methylene chloride has devastated families across the country for far too long, including some who have seen loved ones go to work and never return home,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement. “EPA’s final action ends unsafe methylene chloride practices and implements the strongest possible worker protections for the few remaining industrial uses, ensuring that no one in this country is put in harm’s way by this dangerous chemical.”
The comprehensive restrictions come one year after the EPA proposed the ban, citing the known and potentially deadly health risks of methylene chloride, which is also used to make pharmaceuticals and soft drinks. It also follows the EPA’s decision earlier this month to limit so-called “forever chemicals” in tap water.
The EPA rule would allow certain “critical” uses in military and industrial processing, with worker protections in place, said Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. For example, methylene chloride will continue to be allowed to manufacture refrigerants as an alternative to other chemicals that produce greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change. It will also be permitted for use in electric vehicle batteries and for critical military functions.
Chemical companies claim that the EPA is exaggerating the risks of methylene chloride and that adequate protections have mitigated the health risks. The American Chemistry Council, the industry’s main lobbying group, has called methylene chloride “an essential compound” used to make many products and goods that Americans depend on every day, including paint stripping, pharmaceutical manufacturing and cleaning and degreasing metals.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report
