• Posted December 9, 2024

EPA Bans Two Solvents Linked to Cancer

Two commonly used solvents that have been linked to cancer were banned Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The solvents, known as trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (Perc), are used in in cleaners, spot removers, lubricants, glue and automative care products.

“It’s simply unacceptable to continue to allow cancer-causing chemicals to be used for things like glue, dry cleaning or stain removers when safer alternatives exist,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, told the New York Times. “There’s simply no reason to continue to use this stuff to make glue, or as a dry-cleaning aid, or to clean up grease. The risk is just too great.”

Environmental and health advocates who welcomed the news have been pushing for such a move for years, although some worry about the fate of such rules under a Trump administration, the Times reported.

TCE is known to cause liver cancer, kidney cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to the National Cancer Institute, and it can also damage the nervous and immune systems. The EPA is banning all uses of this chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

The agency also banned all consumer uses of Perc, which is less harmful than TCE but can still cause liver, kidney, brain and testicular cancer. It can also damage the kidneys, the liver and the immune system.

The Perc ban still allows some industrial uses of the chemical, with the caveat that strict rules must be in place to protect workers.

Industry groups criticized the new restrictions. The American Chemistry Council told the Times that “the rule as proposed would present multiple challenges that could have far-reaching impacts on various industries and the national economy.”

But the ban was embraced by environmental advocates.

Linda Robles' daughter, Tianna, died in 2007 of a rare form of cancer and kidney failure that Robles believes was caused by TCE and other chemicals from Tucson International Airport and military facilities near their Arizona home, the Times reported.

In the 1980s, the groundwater near where Robles lived with her family was found to be contaminated with TCE, and the airport and military facilities have since been declared Superfund sites undergoing government cleanup, the Times said.

“They’ve been telling me for decades that they’re going to ban TCE, so it’s such a big deal it’s finally happening,” said Robles, who now campaigns for cleaner water and air.

Still, “I’ll never get my daughter back," she added.

More information

The EPA has more on TCE and PERC.

SOURCES: New York Times