The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday a ban on most uses of methylene chloride, a toxic solvent used in paint stripping that has been linked to at least 88 accidental deaths since 1980.
The final rule bolsters the Biden administration’s broader crackdown on an array of chemicals known to cause serious health effects, despite their helpful applications in everyday life. It will restrict all consumer uses of methylene chloride and most industrial and commercial uses, with some exemptions for the military and makers of climate-friendly coolants and electric vehicle components.
Methylene chloride is often used to refinish bathtubs and furniture, and to make pharmaceuticals and refrigerants. Short-term exposure can cause dizziness, headaches and damage to the central nervous system. Long-term exposure is linked to several types of cancer, including those of the brain, breast, liver and lung.
The EPA has recently unveiled a flurry of other regulations on toxic chemicals. Earlier this month, the agency moved to force polluters to clean up two of the most pervasive forms of “forever chemicals,” designating them as hazardous substances under the nation’s Superfund law. The agency also limited emissions of ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing gas, from roughly 200 chemical plants across the country.
The Biden administration says it has reinvigorated the EPA’s chemicals office after years of budget cuts, depleted staffing levels and generally weaker proposals under President Donald Trump.
“With today’s rule, and the ones that will soon follow, the Biden administration is really turning the page on worker chemical safety in this country,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said on a call with reporters Monday previewing the announcement.
“I wish these protections had been in place earlier, because for many families, they’re coming too late,” Freedhoff added.
The final rule requires companies to rapidly phase down manufacturing, processing and distribution of methylene chloride. Consumer use of the chemical will be phased out within a year, and most industrial and commercial uses will be prohibited within two years.
The EPA will also establish a program aimed at protecting workers from exposure to methylene chloride, especially those engaged in bathtub refinishing or other paint stripping. The program will involve strict monitoring requirements, exposure limits and worker training.
Wendy Hartley, whose 21-year-old son, Kevin, died of methylene chloride poisoning while refinishing a bathtub in 2017, said the agency’s actions will prevent other families from experiencing her “unimaginable loss.”
“Science has told us for decades about the dangers of methylene chloride,” Hartley said on the call with reporters. “The EPA’s actions today are telling us that they heard our stories and are protecting workers.”
Retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe’s have already pulled methylene chloride from their shelves in the face of public outcry. But manufacturers of the solvent have argued that workers and consumers have safely handled it for more than 60 years.
The Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, an industry group, wrote in public comments on the proposed rule that methylene chloride “has been used by hundreds of thousands of workers in dozens of different applications for many decades, with no evidence of liver toxicity or increased cancer risk.”
The final rule contains exemptions for uses of methylene chloride that are important to the economy, national security and the fight against climate change, the EPA said. It allows for the continued production of climate-friendly coolants and battery separators for electric vehicles - two technologies key to Biden’s climate agenda.
Rich Gold, a lobbyist who leads the law firm Holland & Knight’s public policy and regulation group and represents chemical industry clients, said the EPA struck the right balance with the exemptions.
“There are uses that are absolutely essential, such as batteries for EVs and climate-friendly refrigerants,” Gold said. “And then there are uses where the agency feels the risk is too high.”
Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a supervising senior attorney at the environmental law firm Earthjustice who has represented workers and communities exposed to methylene chloride, said the rule is “sorely needed” and will “protect millions of people.” But he criticized the exclusions from the ban, which the chemical industry sought, as too lenient.
“The rule allows more than 50 percent of current methylene chloride production and use to continue, subject only to workplace exposure limits that EPA lacks the resources to enforce and that do nothing for the communities where methylene chloride is released,” Kalmuss-Katz said in an email.
The EPA first proposed to ban most uses of methylene chloride on Jan. 19, 2017 - a day before President Barack Obama left office. A year earlier, Congress had granted the EPA new powers to restrict the use of toxic chemicals in an overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the nation’s main chemical safety law.
Scott Pruitt, who led the EPA under Trump, initially signaled that the agency would follow through on the Obama administration’s proposal, and he met with relatives of three men who had died of exposure to methylene chloride. But the Trump administration ultimately finalized a narrow ban on solely consumer uses in 2019, sparking an outcry from public health advocates and many congressional Democrats.
The Biden administration rule does not apply to methylene chloride that is added to foods such as decaffeinated coffee and certain spice extracts. The Food and Drug Administration - not the EPA - has the authority to restrict this use of the chemical.
FDA spokesman Enrico Dinges said in an email that the agency is reviewing advocates’ petitions for rescinding the approval of methylene chloride and three other chemicals added to foods. He declined to comment further.