This article discusses the EPA’s action plans for the compounds, nonylphenol (NP) and nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs).

The EPA released new action plans on August 18th, 2010 to review the potential health risks of Benzidene and its congeners, Nonylphenol (NP) and Nonylphenol Ethoxylates (NPEs), and Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). These compounds were chosen based on their presence in humans, their persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) characteristics, and their use in consumer products and production.¹ The action plans may result in new use rules, new reporting limits, or the banning or limiting their production and use.

According to the EPA’s Action Plan, a major reason for reviewing NP and NPEs is their widespread release into, and their toxicity in, the aquatic environment. NP is actually a mixture of various structured compounds, that differ in their level of toxicity. NP is used primarily in manufacturing NPEs, which first break down into shorter chain NPEs over time, and then eventually back to NP. While NP is more toxic than the NPEs, they are all toxic to plants, fish and aquatic invertebrates.

Find out the types of products Nonylphenol and Nonylphenol Ethoxylates are used for…

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…

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…

By Steve Wing

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Lead: Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule, issued in 2008, was to take formal (enforceable) effect on April 22, 2010. However, due to difficulties with compliance, the EPA has extended this deadline to December 30, 2010.

This rule mandates a number of specific practices for contractors to mitigate the health hazards associated with disturbance of lead-based painted surfaces in homes, child care facilities, and schools constructed prior to 1978.¹ Under this rule, all contractors in the U.S. conducting work on lead-based painted surfaces are required to be EPA certified and to follow specified work practices for preparation, clean-up, and record keeping. Painters, plumbers, electrical workers, general contractors, and a miscellany of other service providers will be affected. The rule applies to the disturbance of lead-based painted interior surfaces of six or more square feet and exterior surfaces of 20 square feet or more. Guidelines are also provided for window replacement and demolition in such facilities and homes. Under the statute, contractors not in compliance could be fined as much as $37,500 a day.²

Read more about EPA’s lead paint rule…

In a Federal Register notice published June 23, the EPA proposed changes to its permitting program under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to ensure the use of sufficiently sensitive analytical methods for monitoring chemical pollutants in discharge water.

Specifically, the new rule affects the CWA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Its purpose is to specify that applicants and permittees must use analytical methods that are capable of detecting and measuring pollutants at, or below, current water quality criteria.

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