WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it has finalized a ban on consumer uses of methylene chloride, a chemical that is widely used as a paint stripper but is known to cause liver cancer and other health problems.
The EPA said its action will protect Americans from health risks while allowing certain commercial uses to continue with robust worker protections.
The rule banning methylene chloride is the second risk management rule to be finalized by President Joe Biden’s administration under landmark 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act. The first was an action last month to ban asbestos, a carcinogen that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year but is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products.
“Exposure to methylene chloride has devastated families across this country for too long, including some who saw loved ones go to work and never come home,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. The new rule , he said, “brings an end to unsafe methylene chloride practices and implements the strongest worker protections possible for the few remaining industrial uses, ensuring no one in this country is put in harm’s way by this dangerous chemical.”
Gunnar Henderson's leadoff homer launches big 1st inning for Orioles in 9
Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes scratched with lower back tightness. Grandal starts rehab assignment
Kiefer Sutherland reunites with Stand By Me co
Barry Keoghan sports a Burberry bandana on his face as he playfully poses with Stormzy at Coachella
Fox News host's parody music video 'Keeps Fallin' about Joe Biden goes viral
Queen Mary and King Frederik of Denmark join Queen Margrethe to celebrate her 84th birthday
Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, 69, reveals that he 'intends to retire at some point'
Ranger Suárez and Bryce Harper help the Phillies beat the Rockies 5
In Brazil’s flooded south, a secret mission to recover thousands of guns
Sports discussed as a force in rural revitalization at Two Sessions