June. 18 US: EPA Finalizes List of 109 Chemicals To Undergo Endocrine Disruptor Screening
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The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a list of 109 chemicals and pesticide active ingredients for inclusion in the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, according to a notice published June 14 in the Federal Register (78 Fed. Reg. 35,922).
The listed chemicals, the second group of substances selected for inclusion in the EDSP, will undergo Tier 1 screening, a battery of tests designed to identify substances that have the potential to interact with the estrogen, androgen, or thyroid hormone systems.
EPA said it focused on priority drinking water contaminants and pesticides, including substances included on the third Contaminant Candidate List, a set of contaminants that are not currently subject to any national primary drinking water regulations but may require regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The finalized List 2 includes the chemicals perchlorate, benzene, and methanol, as well as 41 substances that are listed as pesticide active ingredients.
The American Chemistry Council said in a statement June 14 that the organization encourages EPA to “fully evaluate” the performance of the Tier 1 tests and make adjustments before testing additional chemicals. Any tests that do not perform as intended should either be revised or replaced with validated approaches before additional testing is conducted, ACC said.
The Office of Pesticide Programs’ information network, an internal database, will be used to identify technical registrants who hold a registration for a product containing a listed chemical as an active ingredient. Test orders will be issued to all identified technical registrants, according to the notice.
Additionally, EPA will rely on information reported under the Toxic Substances Control Act inventory update reporting rule and information in the Toxic Release Inventory database to identify test order recipients for List 2 chemicals that are not used as pesticide active ingredients.
EPA added that it plans to post a list of all List 2 test order recipients on its website once the orders are sent out.
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