On August 18^th, 2010, the EPA announced the release of new action plans to review the potential health risks of certain compounds. These action plans were developed “based on [the chemicals’] presence in humans; persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) characteristics; [and] use in consumer products, production volume or other similar factors”^1. These action plans may result in new use rules, new reporting limits, or banning or limiting their production and use.

The first of these action plans, and the only to be discussed in this current edition of Lab Science News, relates to azo dyes derived from benzidene and benzidene congeners. In the US, these compounds are used primarily in textiles, inks, paper, paints, and by the pharmaceutical and food industries. They are also used in inkjet and laser printers and as biological stains and reagents in laboratories. It is of note that they are already banned in the European Union.

Read more about the action plan for dyes…

In August 2010 the EPA issued a notice proposing new and revised analytical methods to be used under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

The proposed rule, entitled “Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Under the Clean Water Act; Analysis and Sampling Procedures”, will affect numerous EPA Methods, ASTM Methods, Standard Methods, and alternative test methods.

EPA methods:

Read more about the proposed CWA Methods…

On August 27th, the Federal Interagency Task Force on Problem Drywall, comprised of staff members from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), issued a revision to their guidance on the identification of problem drywall based on a recent study:

Read more about the CPSC’s revision on corrosive Chinese drywall…

In June 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took action to ban the use of endosulfan in the United States because it poses unacceptable risks to agricultural workers and wildlife, and can be pervasive in the environment.

The decision was based on a revised ecological risk assessment report, first written in 2002, which highlights that farm workers face greater risks than were previously known. The EPA also found that endosulfan, a colorless solid, poses excessive risk to aquatic and terrestrial wildlife, as well as to birds and mammals that consume aquatic prey which have ingested endosulfan.

Read more about EPA’s plan to ban the use of endosulfan…

In June 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Through the permitting process, the EPA is seeking to decrease the amount of pesticides discharged into waterways. The new permit, also known as the Pesticides General Permit (PGP), was developed in response to a 2009 court decision, which ruled that pesticides can be classified as pollutants under the Clean Water Act.

The EPA’s PGP authorizes the controlled release of the following substances into U.S. waterways:

Read more about EPA’s Proposed New Permit Requirements for Pesticide Discharges…