Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency is saying it may launch a risk evaluation of vinyl chloride soon, after environmental and community groups petitioned the agency in July to step up its review of the chemical.
"It is possible that EPA could begin a risk evaluation on vinyl chloride in the near future," the agency said in a statement it issued after meeting with Beyond Plastics, Beyond Petrochemicals and others that filed the petition.
Still, it's not clear whether the agency would definitely put vinyl chloride, a key building block of PVC, on a faster track.
Later this year, the agency is expected to announce five or six more chemicals it will put on stricter review under 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act.
"Those five to six chemicals are also likely to come from the 2014 TSCA Work Plan," EPA said.
It will be "considering the candidate chemicals' use for plastic production as one of several criteria" in prioritizing what to review, the agency said.
In 2014, EPA put VCM on a list of about 100 priority chemicals needing further assessment under TSCA and announced the first batch of 10 for detailed review in 2016 and a second batch of 20 in 2019.
The environmental groups petitioned EPA on July 27 and met with Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
The Vinyl Institute said after the environmental groups petitioned EPA that it believes it's "highly unlikely" VCM would be on the next round of chemicals reviewed under TSCA.
VI called the environmental groups' petition a "media stunt" and said VCM is safe in its manufacture and use in the United States.
“VCM is one of the most studied and heavily regulated chemicals in the United States,” VI said, adding in a brief Aug. 13 statement that “whether or not VC will be prioritized in the next round of TSCA chemicals is really at EPA’s discretion regarding which chemicals they select.”
The vinyl trade group said the most serious risk comes from workplace exposure at VCM plants, and it said that since stricter federal safety regulations started in 1975, there have not been any known cases of rare cancers from VCM job exposure.
EPA said its reviews of whether chemicals pose an unreasonable risk are required to be completed in three or three and a half years. If risks are found, then possible remedies range from restrictions on use and more worker protections to banning some or all uses, the agency said.
EPA has started to take actions under the reviews it began under the 2016 TSCA updates.
In April 2022, the agency announced results of its first review under the updates, proposing to ban all ongoing uses of asbestos.
It has followed that this year with proposed actions on two more chemicals — methyl chloride and perchloroethylene — in each case proposing bans on some uses and stronger worker protections where it couldn't be banned.
Other federal agencies have raised questions about cancer risks of VCM. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a draft assessment this year noting the U.S. National Toxicology Program and others have declared it a human carcinogen, but the VI pushed back strongly on that draft.
Environmental groups argued that the February burning of VCM that spilled from the rail car derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, adds to the urgency for EPA action.
"It's beyond time to ban vinyl chloride, and the EPA has not just the power but also a responsibility to accelerate that process immediately so Americans can avoid this environmental and human health threat," Beyond Plastics said.