Notice For New Uses Of Chemicals Proposed

EPA is proposing that companies notify the agency about any new uses of several chemicals, including certain brominated flame retardants, a phthalate, and benzidine dyes. Most of these substances are no longer made or used in the U.S., but they can still be imported in products, the agency said last week. The proposed regulations “will ensure that EPA has an opportunity to review new uses of the chemicals, whether they are domestically produced or imported, and if warranted, take action to prohibit or limit the activity before human health or environmental effects can occur,” says James Jones, the agency’s acting assistant administrator for chemical safety and pollution prevention. Targeted in the proposals are the flame retardants polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane, the plasticizer di-n-pentyl phthalate, benzidine dyes, and a short-chain chlorinated paraffin formerly used in lubricants. In addition to the new-use notifications, the agency proposes to require manufacturers or processors of PBDEs as well as companies that use these chemicals in products to conduct health and environmental tests on these substances.