Action Alerts

Support the EPA’s proposed ban of this cancer-causing chemical

What's At Stake

A highly toxic solvent used in dry cleaning and degreasing and a broad range of industrial processes and consumer products is contaminating drinking water supplies for 19 million people and causing widespread harm. The Biden administration recently proposed to ban the manufacturing and use of trichloroethylene (TCE), but now the chemical industry is fighting to delay and weaken that proposal. Tell the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finish the job and to finally phase out the use of TCE under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

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TCE presents severe risks to workers, consumers, and communities across the country. At Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the use and release of TCE at a marine base contaminated drinking water supplies for between 500,000 and 1 million service members, their families, and other local residents. Veterans stationed at that base experienced a 70% greater risk of Parkinson’s disease than those stationed elsewhere, and their children faced increased risks of leukemia, lymphoma, and neural tube defects.

In Tucson, Arizona, high levels of TCE were found in the drinking water system of communities on the city’s south side, near an airport where the solvent was used to clean planes nearby. Many residents who drank the contaminated water developed leukemia and liver, kidney, and immune issues. Despite its devastating impacts, TCE remains in widespread production and use, with more than 150 million pounds manufactured or imported in the United States each year.

Congress amended TSCA in 2016 with chemicals like TCE in mind. That law requires EPA to protect the the public from chemicals’ unreasonable risks, and the Biden administration has proposed to use that authority to phase out the manufacturing, processing, and use of TCE. But the chemical industry is fighting to weaken and delay that rule, leaving the public in harm’s way. Tell the EPA to fulfill its obligation to protect public health by phasing out TCE as quickly as possible.

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