EPA Voluntary Program Increases Public’s Knowledge of Chemical Hazards

On Earth Day 1998, Vice President Al Gore announced the Chemical Right-to-Know Initiative. The Initiative is designed to assure that adequate information is available to the public to assess risks for chemicals that are present in the local environments. This is in response to findings that many commercial chemicals have little toxicity information that is publicly available and that would be adequate for chemical risk assessment purposes.

Battelle is assisting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the Initiative’s first major component, the High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Program. EPA Administrator Carol Browner challenged U.S. chemical manufacturers and importers to voluntarily commit, by December 1, 1999, to providing basic toxicity information by the year 2005 on more than 2,800 HPV chemicals that are made or used in the United States.

The Program is being undertaken in part because of the Federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which states that it is U.S. policy that adequate data should be developed with respect to the effect of chemical substances and mixtures on health and the environment. It also states that the development of such data should be the responsibility of those who manufacture and/or process such chemical substances and mixtures.

With hundreds of responses to the Challenge Program, statisticians and data managers and programmers at Battelle are assisting the EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics in quickly analyzing, tracking, and responding to the sponsorship commitments received from companies, trade associations, and consortia. Because of the Program’s high visibility and the involvement of hundreds of companies, quick, reliable dissemination of information to the public about the Program’s progress and response to questions from the potential participating companies are necessary.

To meet the needs of EPA, Battelle established a database management system and associated quality assurance procedures to ensure and maintain the integrity of the data. The system allows quick compilation of information for dissemination on EPA’s Web site, rapid identification of discrepant sponsorship information, and the ability for urgent EPA requests to be met in a timely manner.

As of February 3, 2000, 403 companies and 103 consortia had voluntarily committed to providing basic toxicity information on 2,011 HPV chemicals. The baseline screening level toxicity information to be provided is based on the Screening Information Data Set (SIDS) established by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for HPV chemicals and includes test results for acute, chronic, and developmental/reproductive toxicity; mutagenicity; ecotoxicity; and environmental fate.

The Program is being conducted in cooperation with ongoing complementary international HPV chemical screening programs administered through OECD and through the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) HPV initiative. Companies can meet the requirements of the HPV Challenge Program either directly through the Challenge Program or indirectly through the OECD HPV SIDS Program.

The toxicity data collected will allow the public to assess the risks of chemicals in the environment. To learn more about the Challenge, visit the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/chemrtk, or contact Pam Hartford at (614) 424-5448 or via e-mail at hartforp@battelle.org.