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EPA Increases Access to Chemical Information/Agency seeks input on improvements

Release Date: 10/07/2014
Contact Information: Cathy Milbourn (News Media Only) [email protected] 202-564-7849 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has posted additional data and added new functions to ChemView, EPA’s publicly-accessible, one-stop online tool to find information for chemicals regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

“In the absence of TSCA reform, EPA is moving ahead to improve access to chemical health and safety information, and increase the dialogue to help the public choose safer ingredients used in everyday products,” said James Jones, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “The additional data along with a customer satisfaction survey will make chemical information more readily available for decision-makers and consumers.”

The enhanced data functions include: improving the display and content for the Chemical Data Reporting information, adding a new link that displays the pollution prevention information generated as part of the Toxics Release Inventory program, and launching an administrative tool that will save EPA resources by streamlining the loading of future information.

The updated database now includes the following new information: 244 consent orders, an additional 1,205 Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) for new and existing chemicals, 16 additional chemicals with test rule data, and updates to the Safer Chemicals Ingredient List. This is the first time EPA has posted consent orders and new chemical SNURs to ChemView. With these additions, ChemView now contains information on almost 10,000 chemicals.

EPA is also encouraging people to complete a ten minute customer satisfaction survey to help guide future improvements to ChemView. This survey asks about how people use ChemView, the usefulness of the tool, how it can be optimized to help advance chemical safety, and suggestions for additional content and functionality. EPA will use the information from the survey to continuously improve ChemView.

ChemView was launched in 2013 to increase the availability of information on chemicals as part of a commitment to strengthen the existing chemicals program and improve access to and usefulness of chemical data and information. The tool displays key health and safety information and uses data in a format that allows quick understanding, with links to more detailed information. Searches can be conducted by chemical name or Chemical Abstracts Service number, use, hazard effect, or regulatory action and has the flexibility to create tailored views of the information on individual chemicals.

By increasing health and safety information and identifying safer chemical ingredients, manufacturers and retailers will have the information to better differentiate their products by using safer ingredients.

To complete the survey, or to view and search ChemView, visit: https://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/chemview/index.html