Legislation introduced in the New Jersey Senate (Senate Bill 1585) would require the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to conduct a study of alternative drycleaning solvents and technologies before imposing additional controls on the use of perchloroethylene by the state’s 1,600 cleaners. The bill, cosponsored by Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney and Environment Committee member John Adler, responds to concerns raised by the drycleaning industry about the DEP’s proposal to phase out perchloroethylene use in the state.

SB 1585 was introduced in early April and referred to the Senate Environment Committee. A Committee hearing on the proposal scheduled for early May was postponed because of concerns over proposed amendments suggested by the Committee chair. The hearing has not yet been rescheduled.

SB 1585 is one of four separate proposals that have been introduced in the state Legislature since DEP proposed the phaseout last December. A fifth proposal, a companion bill to SB 1585, is expected to be introduced in the Assembly in the near future. In the meantime, HSIA is hopeful that the considerable amount of legislative interest will persuade DEP to reconsider their proposal.

Environment Canada and Health Canada recently published preliminary findings of toxicity for 11 chemicals identified as high priorities for action under Canada’s Chemicals Management Plan. Among the chemicals identified as toxic are three silicon products – octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6). Most notable among these three is D5 which is used in a wide variety of personal care products and as a drycleaning fluid.

While concluding that current levels of the three silicon chemicals do not constitute a danger to human life or health, Environment Canada finds that current levels of the chemicals entering the environment "may have an immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment." The assessment further finds that D4, D5, and D6 meet the criteria for "persistence" and "bioaccumulation potential" as set out in Canada’s Persistence and Bioaccumulation Regulations. As a result, the Departments of Health and Environment propose that the chemicals be designated as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and propose the implementation of virtual elimination of the three products under the Act.

"Our initial assessment shows that . . . these chemicals should be kept out of our environment, and as a result we will be working with stakeholders to stop the release of these substances at the source," explained Environment Minister John Baird in a press release accompanying publication of the preliminary findings. Comments on the proposal are due by July 16.

Environment Canada and Health Canada have added 85 chemicals, or chemical groups, to the list of toxic substances since 1999, including perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and methylene chloride. Of these, only 10 substances have been targeted for virtual elimination. The rest of the substances, including the HSIA solvents, have been subject to full life cycle management. Regulations governing the use of the solvents in drycleaning and degreasing were promulgated in the late 1990s.

In a decision issued in early May, the US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, dismissed the claims by several industry groups, including manufacturers and formulators of n-propyl bromide (nPB), that threshold limit values (TLVs^®) for their products were adopted by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) in violation of federal and state law. ACGIH established a TLV^® of 10 parts per million (ppm) for nPB in early 2005.

The Court had previously dismissed three claims brought by the petitioners under federal law. In the latest ruling, the Court held that ACGIH was not operating as an "advisory committee" under the Federal Advisory Committee Act which imposes a number of procedural requirements. The Court further held that the Georgia Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act does not apply to TLVs^® which are more in the nature of opinions than products: "This Court reasons that ACGIH, a non-profit association comprised of a group of scientists that adopts workplace safety exposure levels, is more like an entity designed to promote ideas than one that engages in deceptive advertising in an effort to derive a financial benefit."

In early June, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit rejected the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) challenge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2006 decision not to require additional control of hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions from chemical manufacturing plants. The DC Circuit Court dismissed the NRDC claim that the Hazardous Organic NESHAP (HON) rule was too lenient because it failed to reduce the lifetime cancer risk to no greater than one-in-one-million (10^-6) to the most exposed individual.

As indicated in the April/May 2008 issue of the Solvents Update, the HON decision could have broad implications for federal regulation of HAPs. The court rejected NRDC’s argument that the Clean Air Act requires EPA to reduce potential cancer risks to 10^-6, regardless of the cost, concluding that EPA’s decision that 100-in-a-millon (10^-4) risk provided an ample margin of safety was consistent with the language of the Act. The court also ruled that EPA acted appropriately in considering economic impacts in setting the ample margin of safety and that the Act does not require EPA to tighten a NESHAP every time it is reevaluated.

The HON rule applies to over 200 chemical manufacturing facilities nationwide. These facilities were originally subject to control technology standards promulgated in 1994. Section 112 of the Clean Air Act requires EPA subsequently to evaluate such standards to determine whether additional controls are necessary to provide an ample margin of safety.

Carbon Tetrachloride Thought To Be Less Toxic

According to a new draft assessment from EPA, carbon tetrachloride is not as hazardous as previously thought. Based on new data and analytical techniques, the Agency has proposed to raise the oral reference dose by a factor of five and to lower the estimated cancer risk by a factor of two.