Chemical Proposed For Toxics Inventory

EPA is proposing to addo-nitrotoluene, which is used in making dyes, explosives, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic rubber, to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). When a chemical is listed on TRI, companies that release it to air, water, or land must report those emissions annually to EPA, which compiles these data and makes them public. EPA says it is proposing to add o-nitrotoluene to this inventory because the National Toxicology Program in 2011 classified the substance as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” in the 12th edition of its “Report on Carcinogens.” NTP, an interagency program that is part of the Department of Health & Human Services, gave this ranking to o-nitrotoluene on the basis of evidence from laboratory studies in rats and mice and supporting data on the biochemical mechanism through which the substance is anticipated to cause cancer. Addition of o-nitrotoluene to TRI would affect some chemical and plastics manufacturing plants as well as some facilities making petroleum or coal products, according to EPA’s March 13 proposal.