The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday banned two solvents known to cause a range of cancers: trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE or Perc).
The solvents are used in a variety of products, including cleaners, degreasers, sealants, lubricants, adhesives, paints and commercial applications such as dry cleaning. Safer alternatives are already available for the majority of these uses, according to a news release.
TCE is known to cause non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and liver and kidney cancer. It can also damage the central nervous system, immune system and reproductive organs, according to the EPA, with risks even at very small exposure concentrations.
PCE causes liver, kidney, brain and testicular cancer, as well as damage to the immune system, neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity, according to the EPA.
The ban applies to all uses of TCE and all consumer uses and many commercial uses for PCE, the release added.
“It’s simply unacceptable to continue to allow cancer-causing chemicals to be used for things like glue, dry cleaning or stain removers when safer alternatives exist,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the office of chemical safety and pollution prevention, said in the release. “These rules are grounded in the best-available science that demonstrates the harmful impacts of PCE and TCE.”
The EPA expects to prohibit most of TCE use within one year, the release states. Some workplace uses of TCE, such as cleaning parts of aircraft and medical devices, will be phased out over a longer period but will only continue with worker protections in place.
For PCE, the agency is finalizing a 10-year phaseout for its use in dry cleaning, with the use of the chemical in newly acquired dry-cleaning machines to be prohibited after six months.
