EPA has found that the once-common solvent carbon tetrachloride does not pose unreasonable risk to directly exposed workers or the environment, though other workers may face risk, says a just-released draft assessment the agency conducted under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
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
EPA has released its updated “working approach” for determining whether new chemical applications meet the Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA) “unreasonable risk” standard, retaining controversial provisions over its use of interim enforcement orders and worker protections even as it sought to provide explanations absent from an earlier version.
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A federal judge has again denied EPA’s effort to end a potentially precedent-setting suit challenging the agency’s denial of a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) citizen petition seeking to ban drinking water fluoridation, though the judge also rejected plaintiffs’ competing summary judgment motion that sought a quick ruling in their favor.
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Top EPA officials Dec. 10 sought to detail a long-awaited, updated approach to reviewing new chemicals under the agency’s revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) authorities but officials offered few, if any, new details and drew renewed criticisms from industry, environmentalists and other stakeholders.
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A federal judge is grappling with tough questions on standing and review standards as he weighs whether to dismiss on both procedural and substantive grounds a potentially precedent-setting suit challenging EPA’s denial of a Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA) citizen petition which asked the agency to ban drinking water fluoridation.
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EPA is rejecting calls from former officials, labor and other advocates to exercise special “emergency” authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to quickly address the risks of methylene chloride, the widely used solvent, to workers and others arguing that the agency’s draft risk evaluation does not justify taking such an action.
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As EPA’s ban on consumer uses of paint strippers containing methylene chloride (MC) takes effect, former officials are urging the agency to quickly adopt a host of emergency limits on commercial and other uses of the substance, citing a recent draft assessment that found they pose “unreasonable risks” to workers and others that must quickly be addressed.
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Supporters of legislation banning the use and importation of asbestos under EPA’s toxics authority are gearing up to advance the bill in the Senate after the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted overwhelmingly Nov. 19 to approve a bipartisan compromise, which gives the chlor-alkali industry as much as 10 years to phase-in the ban.
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A federal judge has rejected EPA’s effort to block environmentalists’ suit challenging the agency’s refusal to craft asbestos reporting rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a potentially precedent-setting ruling that could further bolster plaintiffs’ efforts seeking to challenge EPA petition denials.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has denied environmentalists and labor groups’ challenges to the scope of EPA’s framework rule for evaluating existing chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), but the court also rejected EPA’s push to preclude “legacy uses” and associated disposal when assessing risks.
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