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VOLUNTARY HEALTH, SAFETY TESTING FOR CHEMICALS TO BE EXPANDED
Release Date: 12/21/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, DEC. 21, 2000
VOLUNTARY HEALTH, SAFETY TESTING
FOR CHEMICALS TO BE EXPANDED
FOR CHEMICALS TO BE EXPANDED
As part of EPA’s commitment to increase chemical information, two notices have been issued directed at voluntary expansion of health and safety testing of chemicals. The first notice establishes the Voluntary Children’s Chemical Evaluation Program, calling for better evaluation of the risk to children from chemicals they could be exposed to in their everyday lives. The program identifies 23 chemicals on which manufacturers will be asked to voluntarily generate key testing information. These 23 chemicals were selected because monitoring studies found them present in human tissue samples. Key stakeholders participated in the public process of developing the program. It offers an opportunity for chemical producers, including importers, to sponsor their chemicals in the next six months to ensure that health effects and exposure information is collected, evaluated, and made available to the public. The second notice outlines the implementation details for the High Production Volume Challenge program, which called on the U.S. chemical industry to voluntarily commit to providing the public with basic health and safety data on the 2,800 chemicals produced in highest volume. To date, 469 companies, either individually or as part of a consortia, have committed to make data available on 2,155 chemicals. EPA also is issuing the first test rule for 39 chemicals not captured in the voluntary program. This test rule will help ensure that chemicals not sponsored through the voluntary program will be tested. These notices are part of the Chemical Right-to-Know Initiative to ensure the chemicals that may pose the most human risk, especially children, have been adequately evaluated and the information is made available to the public. Additional information on both notices and the test rule is available at: https://www.epa.gov/chemrtk
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