EPA is proposing to ban all ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos in its most aggressive use yet of the reformed TSCA, based on its Trump-era findings that the chemical poses “unreasonable risks” to workers in the chlor-alkali and other sectors as well the public, but industry is already arguing that the rule is based on a flawed understanding of OSHA safeguards.
November 15, 2026
Maria Hegstad
Maria Hegstad is managing editor of Inside EPA’s Risk Policy Report, where she has been writing about all things chemicals, risk assessment policy and toxicology since 2008. Before joining Inside EPA, Maria reported for local newspapers in Manassas, VA, and D.C., covering courts and local government. Maria is a proud native of the “other” Washington, raised in Tacoma. She earned her BA from the College of William & Mary and her MSJ from Medill.
Archived Articles
Major labor unions are warning EPA that while they support its efforts to strengthen consideration of workplace protective gear in chemical risk evaluations, officials “misunderstand” OSHA’s requirements and have failed to fully address harsh interagency criticisms on the subject that were issued in response to a draft Trump-era chemical review.
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Over the objections of labor unions and other groups, a federal appellate court has granted Biden administration requests to remand Trump-era evaluations of the flame retardant cluster known as HBCD as well as the solvent 1,4-dioxane, clearing the way for officials to redo the analyses without necessarily addressing petitioners’ legal claims.
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The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) gearing up to peer-review the Defense Department’s (DOD) revised approach to developing a standard for workplace exposures to trichloroethylene (TCE), marking the latest step in DOD’s long-running struggle to reconcile EPA and OSHA’s drastically different findings on the solvent.
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The Biden EPA is seeking a court’s permission to revisit its Trump-era findings on risks posed by workers’ uses of the solvent methylene chloride, including what level of personal protective equipment (PPE) use would mitigate those dangers, in the first step of what could be a sweeping move to bolster protections for workplace chemical exposures.
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A new analysis conducted by OSHA researchers and academics says EPA’s risk evaluation of methylene chloride undercounted workers’ deaths from exposure to products made with the chemical by almost 40 percent if not more, prompting calls from some of its authors as well as environmental groups for EPA to ban use of the solvent.
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A small business representative says that shortly before the presidential transition EPA risk managers signaled they were considering occupational exposure limits for uses of the acutely toxic solvent methylene chloride at levels more stringent than those set by OSHA and an occupational hygienists group, in an early marker for the forthcoming rule.
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Employers say EPA’s finding that workers face “unreasonable risks” from the dye ingredient pigment violet 29 (PV29) rests in large part on misunderstandings of industrial hygiene practices, and they are urging the agency to work with OSHA and other safety regulators to address those flaws before crafting any rules based on its assessment.
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OSHA is agreeing to strengthen its involvement in EPA’s program for reviewing new chemicals’ potential hazards before they enter the marketplace, but the new memorandum of understanding (MOU) seems to exclude evaluations of existing chemicals even though EPA has faced calls to boost its consideration of worker safety in its risk reviews.
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EPA’s science advisors are deepening their concerns over the narrow scope of the agency’s draft evaluation of asbestos raising questions during a June 8 meeting on why EPA excluded consumer uses and all but chrysotile fiber types from its evaluation, as well as over EPA’s decision to evaluate legacy uses separately.
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