EPA has completed its first new TSCA evaluation of an existing chemical since the Trump administration, finding that 10 of 21 uses for the flame retardant tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) contribute to “unreasonable risk” for workers and users of many products -- a conclusion that triggers a two-year statutory deadline for the agency to regulate those risks.
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
A formaldehyde manufacturer is asking to intervene in environmentalists’ suit against EPA seeking deadlines for 20 overdue TSCA risk evaluations months after the two sides proposed a deal that would require a final formaldehyde analysis by Dec. 31, saying that schedule “is unreasonably short” and ignores some peer reviewers’ criticism of the draft evaluation.
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Industry groups say EPA’s draft TSCA evaluation of the solvent 1,1-dichloroethane (1,1-DCA) ignored key data on workplace exposures and ecotoxicity that they submitted under a 2022 testing mandate, leading to what they claim are “unfounded” determinations that it poses unreasonable risk.
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EPA is proposing to find that just three uses of the phthalate known as DINP pose unreasonable risks that could warrant regulation as part of a newly released draft TSCA evaluation, including two workplace applications that the agency is conceding may have already been abandoned by employers.
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The Department of Agriculture (USDA) pressed EPA to craft guidance on how its just-completed Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) formaldehyde assessment will drive strict workplace limits on the ubiquitous chemical, as part of an interagency review process where USDA and others also echoed employers’ persistent criticism of EPA’s analysis.
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EPA’s Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) has published a divided -- and often critical -- review of the draft TSCA evaluation of formaldehyde that calls for some significant changes to its risk calculations while stressing that the several agency offices reviewing the ubiquitous chemical should be working in concert.
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EPA is proposing to ban the solvent n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) in fertilizers, lubricants and a handful of other products while setting strict new requirements for its continued use in other sectors, including both workplace exposure limits and product restrictions designed to protect consumers in its latest TSCA chemical risk-management rule.
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A group representing occupational and environmental health specialists is raising doubts on key elements of EPA’s proposal to gather existing but unpublished “health and safety studies” on chemicals it floated last fall as candidates for TSCA prioritization, including the value of unpublished data and how occupational monitoring data aligns with EPA’s needs.
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A former Trump administration official is warning that EPA’s latest reworking of how it sets existing chemical exposure limits (ECELs) under TSCA could be legally flawed, saying he does not believe the law “allows” the agency to craft stringent occupational exposure levels during risk evaluations but loosen the mandates in rulemaking.
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EPA has finalized its TSCA risk management rule for the solvent methylene chloride that top officials say will be a model for future chemical policies under the reformed law, maintaining the strict workplace exposure limit in its 2023 proposal while lengthening phaseout deadlines for some uses and adding a de minimis threshold sought by industry.
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