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Policy

Company Halts Production Of Short-Chain Paraffins

Enforcement: Dover Chemical to pay $1.4 million to settle claims that it violated toxic substances law

by Cheryl Hogue
February 8, 2012

U.S. production of short-chain chlorinated paraffins has ceased under a settlement agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency and Dover Chemical, EPA announced on Feb. 7. These substances are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, according to the agency.

“By halting production of short-chain chlorinated paraffins, this settlement will reduce undue risks to human health and the environment,” says Ignacia S. Moreno, assistant U.S. attorney general for the environment and natural resources.

Under the deal, Dover Chemical, based in Dover, Ohio, will also pay $1.4 million to settle allegations that it produced a variety of chlorinated paraffins of shorter and longer carbon chains without notifying EPA. The agency alleges that the company failed to submit premanufacture notices for these compounds as required under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the federal law that governs chemical manufacturing.

But Dover Chemical, which has made chlorinated paraffins since before TSCA was signed into law in 1976, says it filed appropriate paperwork for its products with EPA decades ago. According to a statement from the company, EPA claims that the company’s 1978 submittals did not describe its chlorinated paraffins in sufficient detail.

“While litigation was an option we discussed, Dover’s culture of cooperation with all regulatory agencies and Dover’s commitment to responsible environmental stewardship were major factors driving our decision to resolve this dispute with EPA amicably,” says Dwain Colvin, the company’s president.

In response to a request by EPA and the Department of Justice, Dover Chemical stopped manufacturing short-chain chlorinated paraffins in August 2011, during settlement discussions, an EPA spokeswoman tells C&EN.

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins have between 10 and 13 carbons and three and 12 chlorines per molecule, according to EPA. They have been used as lubricants and coolants in metal cutting and as plasticizers and flame retardants in plastics.

At the end of 2009, EPA announced it was targeting short-chain chlorinated paraffins for possible regulation because of their persistence in the environment, bioaccumulation in animal tissue, and toxicity to aquatic organisms at low concentrations. Canada has banned short-chain chlorinated paraffins because of environmental concerns (C&EN, Aug. 1, 2011, page 30).

Under the settlement, Dover Chemical is to submit premanufacture notices to EPA for several longer-chain chlorinated paraffins it continues to manufacture. This, according to EPA, will allow the agency to identify and evaluate these substances’ health and environmental hazards, exposures, and releases—and regulate them, if needed. The agency says these longer-chain substances may pose environmental and health concerns similar to their short-chained chemical cousins.

Dover Chemical produces alkylphenols, chlorinated paraffins, polymer additives, liquid and solid antioxidants, brominated flame retardants, and additives for metalworking fluids. It is a subsidiary of New York City-based ICC Industries.

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