The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday finalized a ban on most uses of the deadly chemical methylene chloride, which can suffocate users in confined areas and cause liver and other cancers.
The agency also added tighter workplace protections for the highly industrialized applications in which it can continue to be used, including by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Tuesday’s announcement strengthens a 2019 EPA ban on the manufacture, processing and distribution of methylene chloride, also known as dichloromethane, in all paint and coating removers for consumer use after Nov. 22, 2019. Products containing the compound had been readily available at home improvement chains, including Lowe’s and Home Depot, which have phased out products containing the compound.
“The rule that we’re finalizing today completes the action that the Obama administration first proposed for paint stripping, but adds a combination of bans and a strong worker chemical-based protection program,” said Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
The Obama administration proposed the ban on the consumer and paint-stripping applications, and the Trump administration finalized half of the ban, on the consumer paint-stripping uses, Freedhoff said. The Trump administration also completed a risk evaluation on 53 different uses for the compound. The EPA’s announcement on Tuesday completes the ban for those 52 other uses, such as those in highly industrialized applications and laboratories, she said.
“It’s a much stronger action, because it really applies to the full suite of things that methylene chloride is used for,” she said.
The rule requires companies to rapidly phase down manufacturing, processing and distribution of the chemical for all consumer uses and most industrial and commercial uses, including in home renovations. Consumer use will be phased out within a year, and most industrial and commercial uses will be prohibited within two years.
At least 88 people have died since 1980 from acute exposure to methylene chloride, a colorless liquid with a mild sweet odor that had been used widely as an industrial solvent, according to the EPA. Most of them were workers engaged in refinishing bathtubs or other paint stripping. That prompted the EPA to ban that consumer application in 2019, but the chemical continued to be used widely.
Methylene chloride is linked to liver, lung, breast and brain cancers, as well as cancers affecting the blood and central nervous system, according to the EPA.
Methylene chloride is on Maine’s list of about 1,400 “chemicals of concern,” but it does not appear on the state’s list of 36 “chemicals of high concern.” Maine law requires the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to publish a list of no more than 70 chemicals of high concern.
Chemicals are placed on the two lists depending on whether there is convincing scientific data to support their ill effects. Development of the list of chemicals of high concern is determined in cooperation with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Maine DEP spokesperson David Madore did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how the EPA’s ban would affect Maine.
The ban does not apply to the chemical’s use in the pharmaceutical and food industries because they are regulated by other U.S. agencies, Freedhoff said. The compound is used by consumers for degreasing sprays and in commercial applications such as adhesives and sealants. In industrial settings it is used to make other chemicals such as more climate-friendly refrigerant chemicals.
Mounting deaths from exposure to the chemical prompted former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to change his mind about the ban for consumers. He initially had put on hold the Obama administration’s attempt to ban consumer sales of paint strippers containing the compound. He reversed course after meeting with families of men who died after using paint strippers.
Drew Wynne, a cold-brew coffee maker, died at age 31 in October 2017 after using a paint stripper containing it at the business where he worked in Charleston, South Carolina. Kevin Hartley, 21, of Tennessee also died from methylene chloride exposure after refinishing a bathtub at work in 2017. Hartley’s mother, Wendy, applauded the EPA for its ban.
“This is a huge step that will protect vulnerable workers,” she said at an EPA press conference.
It took too long for the ban, said Michael Belliveau, founder of the nonprofit Defend Our Health in Portland, although he welcomed the move.
“We applaud EPA’s final decision that some chemicals are simply too dangerous to put in products or use anymore,” he said. “Sadly, it took the feds nearly 50 years to phase out this cancer-causing chemical. We need to move more swiftly to safer alternatives for all toxic chemicals.”
Lori Valigra is an investigative environment reporter for the BDN’s Maine Focus team. She may be reached at [email protected]. Support for this reporting is provided by the Unity Foundation and donations by BDN readers.
