Congress Wants to Keep a Carcinogen Ravaging our Communities in Use—We Can’t Let That Happen 

Lawmakers are trying to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ban on trichloroethylene (TCE)—a chemical tied to cancer, birth defects, and Parkinson’s disease. If they succeed, it would gut protections and keep people exposed to a chemical that is devastating our communities by contaminating drinking water, causing cancer in workers, and harming children. 

We’re working with public health advocates, environmental justice leaders, labor unions, and families to stop lawmakers from keeping TCE in our communities and demand the EPA enforce the ban. Every day of delay, millions remain exposed. 

TCE Should Have Been Banned Decades Ago 

TCE is a widely used solvent found in metal degreasers, adhesives, paints, dry cleaning, and automotive cleaners, despite the widespread availability of safer alternatives. It seeps into groundwater, contaminates indoor air, and lingers in water and soil—leading to devastating health consequences such as: 

• Increasing people’s risk of developing cancer. TCE exposure is linked to kidney, breast, and liver cancer, leukemia, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

• Causing serious neurological harm. Studies connect long-term exposure to Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. 

• Increasing the chances of children being born with life-altering problems. Pregnant women exposed to TCE face an increased risk of fetal heart defects and autoimmunity disorders in their children. 

• TCE breaks down to another cancerous substance—vinyl chloride. Vinyl chloride is a highly potent carcinogen that made national headlines after the devastating train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. 

This is not a hypothetical threat. TCE is in the water of military bases, schools, and residential neighborhoods. In Long Island, New York, a toxic plume of TCE stretches six square miles beneath Bethpage Community Park. In Woburn, Massachusetts, a TCE-contaminated drinking water crisis was linked to a childhood leukemia cluster that inspired the book and movie A Civil Action. At Camp Lejeune, an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 Marines, military families, and nearby residents were exposed to TCE, resulting in increased risks of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and kidney disease.. Across the country, families continue to suffer the consequences of inaction. 

Industry’s Influence Is Keeping Americans at Risk 

TCE’s harmful impacts extends beyond party lines. The Trump administration found that TCE poses an unreasonable risk to people’s health in 52 out of 54 uses. The Biden administration moved to ban the chemical completely. The EPA gave corporations ample time—some more than 20 years—to phase out their uses of TCE. The TCE rule will protect more than 85,000 workers and countless consumers across the country from serious health risks and save more than $20 million in health benefits from reduced cancer incidence alone. Call to Action: Tell Congress to stop attacks on the TCE ban 

The CRA resolution is a senseless attack on the TCE ban, a rule that will have life-saving benefits. Most if not all companies using TCE will be able to transition to safer substitutes. If Congressional members vote to repeal the rule, it will become incredibly difficult to undo the damage and reinstate a similar ban. Congress must stop the CRA resolution and demand that EPA enforce the TCE ban—no more delays.