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Policy

Confidentiality For Chemicals Trimmed

by Cheryl Hogue
January 25, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 4

EPA is making a targeted change to its policy that protects the identity of commercial chemicals as confidential business information. The move is designed to make health and safety information that companies provide to EPA more complete and informative to the public. Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), chemical manufacturers must report to the agency if a scientific study or an event, such as the aftermath of a spill, indicates that a compound may pose a health or environmental risk. The health or safety information in these reports is generally available to the public. But in many reports, the exact name of the chemical is protected from public release because the producer claimed the compound's identity as a trade secret. According to a change announced last week, EPA will reject such confidentiality claims in these reports if the chemical's identity is listed on the publicly available version of the TSCA inventory of substances in commerce. If a compound's full chemical name is on the public inventory, it has already been disclosed and thus is not entitled to confidential treatment, the agency explains.

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