It is one of 23 chemicals which made the updated Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), while 15 were removed following assessment.
EPA said the changes to the TSCA Work Plan for Chemical Assessments reflect updated industry data through the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) in 2011 and the TSCA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) requirements in 2012 on chemical releases and potential exposures.
It is the first update to the TSCA Work Plan.
Chemical selection
Chemicals were selected for being potentially of concern to children’s health, neurotoxic effects, persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT), probable or known carcinogens, used in children’s products or detected in biomonitoring programs.
The agency said identification of a chemical does not mean the chemical presents a risk to human health or the environment but it indicates that it intends to consider it for assessment.
The TSCA Work Plan for Chemical Assessments: 2014 update contains 90 chemicals.
Thirteen chemicals were removed because they are not in commerce based on data received under the CDR rule and TRI reporting.
BPA use
BPA is a high production volume chemical used in manufacturing polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins used in nearly every industry.
Humans appear to be exposed primarily through food packaging, although those products account for less than 5% of the BPA used in the country.
Food packaging is under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The agency’s actions may include regulatory action to label, restrict, or ban a chemical, require additional data needed to determine the risk or to publish findings that there is no need for action.
Ten of the chemicals added are part of a group of 345 chemicals the agency screened in 2012.
They are 1,3-Butadiene, 2,5-Furandione, 2-Dimethylaminoethanol, 2-Hydroxy-4-(octyloxy)benzophenone, 3,3’-Dichloro-benzidine, 4,4'-(1-Methylethylidene)bis[2,6-dibromophenol] (TBBPA), Barium carbonate, Dicyclohexyl phthalate, Molybdenum and Molybdenum Compounds and Pentachlorothiophenol.