Fight over formaldehyde safety continues

Formaldehyde—a chemical building block used in basic products like composite wood, plastics, paints, adhesives, and sealants—poses unreasonable health risks to workers and consumers, the US Environmental Protection Agency says in a final evaluation released Jan. 2. The findings set the stage for new restrictions or bans on formaldehyde uses that fall under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and triggered industry outcry.

The EPA’s evaluation builds on a controversial assessment by the agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program. Chemical manufacturers and some Republican leaders in Congress fought for years to delay the IRIS assessment, which focused on cancer effects of formaldehyde inhalation.

In its latest evaluation, the EPA finds unreasonable risks to human health due to noncancer effects—such as skin sensitization, eye irritation, and allergies—from skin and inhalation exposures for both workers and consumers. The agency also finds unreasonable risks to workers due to cancer from long-term inhalation exposure.

Despite minor improvements over a draft evaluation released in March, the EPA’s final formaldehyde evaluation does not use the best available science, the American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical manufacturers, says in a statement. The group warns that any restrictions or bans on formaldehyde could affect critical applications like “housing, agriculture, transportation, healthcare, and national security.”

It is unclear whether the EPA will pursue a rule to control the risks of formaldehyde under Donald J. Trump’s incoming administration. TSCA requires the agency to do so within 2 years of finalizing an evaluation that finds unreasonable risks to human health or the environment. But the EPA could decide to redo the formaldehyde evaluation because of pressure from industry.

Formaldehyde is one of 20 chemicals in the second group of high-priority substances the EPA is evaluating under revisions made to TSCA in 2016. So far, the agency has finalized the evaluation for only one other chemical in that group—the flame retardant tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate.

The EPA completed risk evaluations for the first group of substances, which included 10 chemicals, under the first Trump presidency. But the agency revisited all of them under the Joe Biden administration, putting it several years behind schedule. Of those 10 chemicals, the EPA has finalized risk management rules for 5.