Newsroom
All News Releases By Date
PA EPA PROPOSES TO ADD DIOXIN TO TOXIC RELEASE INVENTORY
Release Date: 05/05/97
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, MAY 5, 1997
EPA PROPOSES TO ADD DIOXIN TO TOXIC RELEASE INVENTORY
EPA is requesting public comment on a proposal to add community right-to-know information on dioxin and 27 dioxin-like compounds to its Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), a list of chemicals and chemical categories subject to federal reporting requirements when manufactured or used in large quantities. The Agency also is requesting comment on lowering the reporting threshold for dioxin, which generally is produced at levels lower than the current reporting thresholds for TRI chemicals. EPA is issuing this proposal to include dioxin on the TRI in response to a petition from Communities for a Better Environment. Dioxin is a highly toxic compound that persists and bioaccumulates in the environment, and is known to cause adverse health effects in humans and animals. Although dioxin is not intentionally produced, it is coincidentally manufactured in several industrial processes commonly used in the combustion and incineration of waste, steel production, pulp and paper manufacturing, and oil refining, among other operations. EPA is proposing to list dioxin on the TRI based on chronic health effects associated with dioxin, including developmental, reproductive and immunological effects. The comment period on the proposal ends July 6. A final decision on whether to list dioxin on the TRI will be made when EPA finalizes a lower numeric reporting threshold for dioxin. The proposal to add dioxin to the TRI will be published May 6 in the Federal Register.
R-69 # # #
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.
