Solvents industry submits TCE data to US EPA

The Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance (HSIA) has submitted the draft results of an industry-sponsored study on tricholoroethylene (TCE) to the US EPA to inform the agency’s ongoing risk evaluation of the solvent. And with the latest findings, presented in the draft report "An oral (drinking water) study of the effects of trichloroethylene (TCE) on foetal heart development in sprague dawley rats," the HSIA says that the weight of scientific evidence does not support in utero TCE exposure as a cause of cardiac malformations. Submission of the data follows industry criticism of a study relied on during the TSCA work plan risk assessment of TCE, which linked the solvent to foetal heart malformations. The American Chemistry Council joined the HSIA in 2017 raising concern with the Johnson et al study, in the context of a proposed TSCA section 6 rule to ban the solvent in certain applications.