The 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether a chemical presents a risk under the chemical’s “conditions of use.” Under TSCA, EPA must identify and make “risk determinations” for each condition of use of a chemical that presents “unreasonable risk” as well as those that “do not present unreasonable risk.” Both the inherent toxicity of a chemical and the likely exposures under its conditions of use must be evaluated to determine whether a chemical poses unreasonable risks to humans or the environment.
TSCA chemicals are important building block chemicals for industrial, commercial, and consumer uses. Therefore, EPA’s consideration of the specific conditions of use of these chemicals is important.