EPA Issues a Draft Revision to its Risk Determination for the Carbon Tetrachloride Risk Evaluation Issued Under the Toxic Substance Control Act

On August 29, 2022, EPA published a draft revision to its risk determination for carbon tetrachloride. Carbon tetrachloride is a solvent that is used as a raw material to produce other chemicals such as refrigerants, chlorinated compounds, and agricultural products. EPA’s draft revision concludes that carbon tetrachloride presents an unreasonable risk determination as a whole chemical substance. This conclusion replaces the condition of use-specific unreasonable risk determination for the chemical provided in the final risk evaluation. EPA is also removing the assumption that workers use personal protective equipment (PPE).

EPA’s revisions do not change the unreasonable risk determinations for 13 of the 15 conditions of use evaluated. The revisions also do not change the determinations for the two conditions of use that were concluded to not pose an unreasonable risk. However, because EPA is removing the PPE use assumption, worker inhalation and dermal exposures are considered to drive the unreasonable risk posed by carbon tetrachloride.  

EPA also notes that the revised risk determination includes changes to the risk estimates for acute dermal exposures because of a typographical error correction.

Comments are due on September 28, 2022.

Read the revised risk determination and submit comments.

Advocacy contact: Tabby Zeb at 202-798-7405 or email at tayyaba.zeb@sba.gov.