White House, EPA Ignore Calls To Protect Workers From Deadly Paint Stripper Chemical

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration announced today it will allow methylene chloride, a dangerous chemical that can kill a person on contact, to remain an ingredient in paint-stripper products for commercial use. The decision is a significant retreat from a ban on the chemical for both commercial and consumer use proposed two years ago by the Environmental Protection Agency.  

The White House Office of Management and Budget has finalized its review of an EPA rule under the recently strengthened Toxic Substances Control Act that will restrict the use of methylene chloride in paint strippers used by consumers, but will continue allowing it in those products used for commercial purposes.

“The Trump administration will be partly to blame when the next worker is injured or dies as a result of being exposed to this extremely dangerous chemical,” said EWG Legislative Attorney Melanie Benesh. “Administrator Andrew Wheeler and his EPA should use their authority under the revamped toxics law to protect all Americans from further exposure to methylene chloride. Instead they are catering to the wishes of the chemical industry.”

Public interest groups, including EWG, Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, have called on the EPA to ban both commercial and consumer uses of paint strippers that contain the chemical. Under pressure from Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, some major retailers, including Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Sherwin-Williams, Amazon and Walmart, have pledged to remove products containing the chemical from their shelves.

Inhalation of methylene chloride has been linked to more than 50 deaths. The EPA classifies it as a probable human carcinogen that is also toxic to the brain and liver.

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The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.

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