Draft Chemical Risk Evaluation for Pigment Violet 29 Is EPA’s First Under TSCA
EPA’s draft risk evaluation for pigment violet 29, or PV29, concludes that occupational exposures to the chemical are limited and that it does not present an unreasonable risk of injury to human health—including workers involved in its manufacture—or the environment. The draft risk evaluation is the first that the agency has published under the recently amended Toxic Substances Control Act. As amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which was signed into law in June 2016, TSCA requires EPA to complete risk evaluations for 10 chemicals, including PV29, by December 2019.
PV29 is primarily used as a colorant in inks, paints, coatings, and plastics. Its applications include under paints and coatings in the automotive industry, in automobile and industrial carpeting, and in pharmaceuticals, solar cells, paper, sporting goods, appliances, agricultural equipment, and oil and gas pipelines. PV29 is also a component of consumer products such as watercolors and acrylic paints.
EPA’s draft risk evaluation notes that workers may be exposed via inhalation and dermal routes during handling of “neat materials,” but that absorption via inhalation pathways is “expected to be poor” and dermal absorption is “estimated to be negligible.” EPA also states that oral absorption is poor due to low water solubility.
The safety data sheet for PV29 lists processing enclosure and local exhaust ventilation among the engineering controls for the chemical. Personal protective equipment should include safety glasses with side-shields; dust goggles under certain circumstances; chemical-resistant, impervious gloves; and particulate respirators if needed.
“Although oral and dermal exposure are expected to be limited … EPA conducted a screening-level analysis to quantify a theoretical high-end scenario for workers, which assumes that PPE are not utilized,” the agency’s draft document reads.
EPA estimates that the inhalation potential dose rate for workers at a manufacturing site is 7.5 mg/day. The agency’s dermal potential dose rate is a theoretical maximum exposure of 3,100 mg/day. More information about EPA’s occupational exposures modeling is available in the draft risk evaluation document (attachment number 21 in the docket on
Regulations.gov
).
EPA is accepting public comment on its draft risk evaluation until Jan. 14, 2019. The Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals—a new federal advisory committee charged with providing scientific advice, information, and recommendations to EPA on chemicals regulated under TSCA—will also review the draft risk evaluation.
The other nine chemicals set to undergo risk evaluations are 1,4-dioxane, 1-bromopropane, asbestos, carbon tetrachloride, cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster, methylene chloride, N-methylpyrrolidone, tetrachloroethylene, and trichloroethylene. EPA plans to release draft risk evaluations for the remaining chemicals in the coming months. The agency previously stated that it is on track to issue final risk evaluations for all 10 chemicals identified for evaluation under TSCA by the December 2019 deadline. TSCA allows for a single six-month extension of this deadline.
EPA’s draft risk evaluation for PV29 is available as a PDF
. For information about submitting comments on the PV29 draft risk evaluation, visit Regulations.gov
. Additional information about EPA’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Chemicals is available on the agency's website
.
NEWSWATCH
RISK ASSESSMENT
EPA’s draft risk evaluation notes that workers may be exposed via inhalation and dermal routes during handling of “neat materials,” but that absorption via inhalation pathways is “expected to be poor.”
