EPA to increase phthalate chemical regulation
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will move to regulate dozens of applications of five widely used phthalate chemicals to address environmental and workplace risks. This decision is based on final risk evaluations, released today, for each of these chemicals: Butyl Benzyl Phthalate (BBP), Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Dicyclohexyl Phthalate (DCHP), Diethylhexyl Phthalate (DEHP), and Diisobutyl Phthalate (DIBP), commonly used to make plastics more flexible in everything from building materials to industrial applications. EPA used gold standard science and tapped independent peer reviewers to reach its conclusions that all five chemicals it reviewed pose unreasonable risks to workers and to the environment. EPA’s regulatory focus will target the specific uses that harm workers or threaten the environment.
“Our gold standard science delivered clear answers that these phthalates pose unreasonable risk to workers in specific industrial settings and to the environment,” said Administrator Lee Zeldin. ” We’ll work directly with stakeholders to develop targeted protections that keep workers safe and protect our environment. This is exactly what science-based environmental protection should look like.”
