EPA Web Tool Helps Manufacturers Choose Safer Chemicals

chemicals

by | Sep 10, 2013

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chemicalsThe EPA has launched a web-based tool that it says will help manufacturers choose safer ingredients to use in everyday products.

The tool, called ChemView, improves access to chemical specific regulatory information developed by the EPA and data submitted under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). By increasing health and safety information, as well as identifying safer chemical ingredients, manufacturers and retailers will have the information to better differentiate their products by using safer ingredients, the agency says.

ChemView displays health and safety data in an online format that allows comparison of chemicals by use and by health or environmental effects. The search tool combines available TSCA information and provides streamlined access to EPA assessments, hazard characterizations and information on safer chemical ingredients.

Additionally, the web tool allows searches by chemical name or Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number, use, hazard effect or regulatory action. It has the flexibility to create tailored views of the information on individual chemicals or compare multiple chemicals sorted by use, hazard effect or other criteria. The new portal will also link to information on manufacturing, processing, use, and release data reported under the Chemical Data Reporting Rule, and the Toxics Release Inventory.

In the months ahead, the EPA says it will be continuously adding additional chemicals, functionality and links. When fully updated, the web tool will contain data for thousands of chemicals. The EPA has incorporated stakeholder input into the design, and says it welcomes feedback on the current site.

Facilities required to report non-trade secret Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data to the EPA must file electronically as of Jan. 21, 2014, according to a final rule published in the Federal Register in late August.

TRI tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Under the TRI program, US facilities must report annually how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery and treatment.

 

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