EPA Proposes Designating Vinyl Chloride as a High-Priority Chemical 40 Years After It Was Declared Cancerous

Washington, D.C. —

In an important step for public health and environmental safety, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed designating vinyl chloride as a high-priority chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), because it may present an unreasonable risk to people and the environment.

Environmental advocacy organizations Beyond Plastics, Earthjustice, and Toxic-Free Future immediately released a report detailing the chemical’s harms and recommendations for the EPA to consider during its evaluation.

Vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen and the main ingredient used to manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, has long been known to be associated with severe health and environmental hazards. Advocacy groups have raised concerns over the frequency and severity of vinyl chloride incidents across the United States, urging regulatory bodies to take action.

“This designation requires EPA to thoroughly evaluate the risks associated with vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen, and implement stringent regulations to mitigate its dangers,” said Earthjustice director of crosscutting toxic strategies Eve Gartner. “With the alarming frequency of vinyl chloride incidents and its pervasive presence in our air, water, and soil in communities near petrochemical manufacturing, as well as ongoing use in consumer products, this action is necessary to protect vulnerable communities and prevent further harm.”

“Over 99% of the chemical vinyl chloride used to make polyvinyl (PVC) plastic wreaks havoc in the environment and public health,” said Beyond Plastics president and former EPA regional administrator Judith Enck. “This toxic chemical is widely used in food packaging, children’s toys, and home-building products. It is long past time for the EPA to ban this chemical.”

Key findings from the report:

• Air releases of vinyl chloride have averaged around 500,000 pounds per year since 2010, increasing cancer risks for frontline communities near vinyl chloride manufacturing facilities.
• Almost one thousand (966) vinyl chloride “incidents” (leaks, spills, fires, and explosions) were reported between 2010 and 2023: an average of one every 5.3 days.
• Fourteen people were killed and 120 were injured in explosions and accidents from 1964 to 2022.
• Incidents occur all along the chain: at vinyl chloride and PVC manufacturing plants, along roads and railroads where the chemical is transported, on vessels, and at ports.
• Future catastrophic incidents are “reasonably foreseen,” given their frequency, vinyl chloride’s reactivity, and the densely populated areas in which it is made, processed, and transported.
• Legacy landfills and Superfund sites are still leaking vinyl chloride into groundwater.
• PVC drinking water pipes can leach residual vinyl chloride and threaten public health.
• Consumer products, including children’s toys, can leach residual vinyl chloride.

“We’ve recommended that as part of its regulatory process, EPA officials visit the communities that have been directly impacted by vinyl chloride,” said Jenny Gitlitz, Beyond Plastics’ director of solutions to plastic pollution and co-author of the report. “They need to talk to residents whose health has been harmed by contaminated water and air pollution. They must also examine how vinyl chloride can leach from PVC pipes into drinking water. It’s time for action to protect public health.”

If the high-priority designation is finalized, the EPA will initiate a comprehensive risk evaluation process. A high-priority designation requires EPA to gather all reasonably available information about vinyl chloride, which includes information that can be generated or obtained, such as whether vinyl chloride is present in drinking water. Many groups have urged the EPA to conduct testing of drinking water at the tap (as opposed to at the source where most drinking water testing occurs) to determine whether vinyl chloride is leaching into drinking water from PVC pipes (especially under high heat conditions, as are occurring across much of the country this summer). Concerns about the leaching of vinyl chloride from PVC pipes are particularly concerning as many municipalities are removing lead service lines and considering whether to replace them with PVC lines.

“We applaud EPA’s proposal to designate vinyl chloride a high-priority chemical. Following the law and the science should lead EPA to conclude that vinyl chloride is far too dangerous to make or use, and should be banned,” said Liz Hitchcock, director of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, the federal policy program of Toxic-Free Future. “Vinyl chloride threatens our health and contaminates the environment from manufacture through disposal, with workers and people living near chemical facilities and along vinyl chloride transport routes suffering the highest exposures and in the greatest danger.”

If the risk evaluation concludes that the chemical poses an unreasonable risk, the EPA must develop and implement risk management measures. These measures include banning vinyl chloride or restricting its manufacturing, processing, distribution, use, or disposal.

Vinyl chloride wouldn’t be the first hazardous chemical in plastic products to be banned or restricted. For example, several ortho-phthalates — chemical additives that make PVC plastic soft and flexible — have been restricted from children’s toys in the United States, the European Union, and many nations worldwide. In addition, EPA has recently banned many uses of two chemicals under TSCA: methylene chloride and asbestos. It has also proposed a total ban on the toxic chlorinated chemical known as TCE and most uses of the chlorinated chemical PCE.

EPA will accept public comments on the proposed designations for 90 days after publication via docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2023-0601 at the Regulations.gov page.

Anticipated schedule for regulating vinyl chloride:

• Phase 1: Designating vinyl chloride (VC) as a high-priority chemical: decision in December 2024
• Phase 2: Risk evaluation (if VC gets high priority designation): December 2024 – December 2027
• Phase 3: Adoption of regulations to manage risks: December 2029