EPA releases updated TSCA inventory

The EPA has released an updated TSCA inventory, which indicates that just over 40,000 substances are currently active in US commerce. The update follows the ‘inventory reset’ reporting exercise, put in place by the 2016 amendments to TSCA. This required manufacturers and importers to provide retrospective notification of substances that had been manufactured, imported or used during a ten year ‘lookback period’, ending 21 June 2016, with an optional notification period for processors. Following the EPA’s review of the more than 90,000 responses, the updated inventory shows as active 40,655 (47%) of the 86,228 chemicals on the inventory. This includes 7,757 substances with identities withheld as confidential (19% of the total active substances).