1,1,2-Trichloroethane Draft Risk Evaluation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Notice of Availability and Request for Comment

1,1,2-Trichloroethane Draft Risk Evaluation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Notice of Availability and Request for Comment

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before September 28, 2026.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Executive Summary

A. Does this action apply to me?

This action is directed to the public in general and may be of particular interest to those involved in the manufacture (defined under TSCA section 3(9) to include import), processing, distribution, use, and disposal of 1,1,2-trichloroethane, related industry trade organizations, non-governmental organizations with an interest in human and environmental health, State and local governments, Tribal Nations, and/or those interested in the assessment of risks involving chemical substances and mixtures regulated under TSCA. As such, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that this action might apply to. If you need help determining applicability, consult the relevant technical contact listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT .

B. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

The Agency is conducting this risk evaluation under TSCA section 6, (15 U.S.C. 2605) which requires that EPA conduct risk evaluations on chemical substances and identifies the minimum components EPA must include in the risk evaluations. Each risk evaluation must be conducted consistent with the best available science, be based on the weight of the scientific evidence, and consider reasonably available information, and not consider costs or non-risk factors (15 U.S.C. 2625(h), (i), and (k)). See also the implementing procedural regulations at 40 CFR part 702.

C. What action is the Agency taking?

EPA is announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on the draft risk evaluation under TSCA for 1,1,2-trichloroethane. EPA used the best available science to prepare this draft risk evaluation and preliminarily determined, based on the weight of scientific evidence, that 1,1,2-trichloroethane does pose unreasonable risk to human health driven by certain COUs analyzed in the draft risk evaluation.

D. What should I consider as I submit my comments to EPA?

1. Submitting CBI

Do not submit CBI through https://www.regulations.gov or email. If you wish to include CBI in your comment, please follow the applicable instructions at https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets#rules and clearly mark the information that you claim to be CBI. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR parts 2 and 703, as applicable.

2. Tips for Preparing Comments

When preparing and submitting your comments, see the commenting tips at https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

II. Background for 1,1,2-Trichloroethane

A. What is 1,1,2-Trichloroethane?

1,1,2-Trichloroethane is primarily used in plastic and petrochemical manufacturing. 1,1,2-Trichloroethane is also used in industrial adhesives and sealants and as a laboratory chemical. Workers and occupational non-users (ONUs) may be exposed to 1,1,2-trichloroethane through the inhalation route and workers through the dermal route associated with manufacturing, processing, use, or disposal of 1,1,2-trichloroethane. Consumers may be exposed to 1,1,2-trichloroethane through the dermal and inhalation routes during intended product use as an adhesive. Environmental releases to air, water, and land occur from industrial and waste handling facilities ( e.g., Publicly Owned Treatment Works, landfills, and incinerators). 1,1,2-Trichloroethane is expected to be persistent in air and water but is not expected to sorb to soil.

B. The Risk Evaluation of 1,1,2-Trichloroethane

In December 2019, EPA announced its designation of 1,1,2-trichloroethane (Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0421) as a high-priority substance for risk evaluation under TSCA (84 FR 71924 (FRL-10003-15-OCSPP)). In April 2020, EPA published and sought public comment on the draft scope of the 1,1,2-trichloroethane risk evaluation (85 FR 19941 (FRL-10007-11-OCSPP)), and, after considering public comments, issued the final scope on September 4, 2020 (85 FR 55281 (FRL-10013-90-OCSPP)).

In this draft risk evaluation, EPA assessed human health risk to workers (including ONUs), consumers, and the general population (including fenceline communities and potentially exposed susceptible subpopulations or PESS) exposed to environmental releases of 1,1,2-trichloroethane. Specifically, EPA evaluated acute, intermediate, and chronic non-cancer and cancer risks to workers and ONUs; acute and chronic non-cancer risks to consumers; and acute and chronic non-cancer and cancer risks to the general population (including fenceline communities and PESS). This draft risk evaluation also assessed acute and chronic risks to the environment, specifically to aquatic and terrestrial species.

C. Request for Comment

EPA seeks feedback on the assessment of risk presented in the draft risk evaluation for 1,1,2-trichloroethane, a copy of which is available in the docket, and encourages all potentially interested parties, including individuals, governmental and non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, research institutions, and private sector entities to comment on the draft risk evaluation. To the extent possible, the Agency asks commenters to please cite any public data related to or that support comments provided, and to the extent permissible, describe any supporting data that are not publicly available.

EPA welcomes specific input on each section of the draft risk evaluation, and is particularly interested in additional information that informs the topics below.

• Importation by whom and in what quantities.
• Whether 1,1,2-trichloroethane is manufactured as a primary product in the United States and in what quantities, as well as information on the chemical manufacturing process and potential for occupational exposure or airborne releases.

• As described in Section 3.1.1.1, EPA identified Manufacturing as a Byproduct in the Pulp and Paper Industry as an Occupational Exposure Scenario (OES) for 1,1,2-trichloroethane. EPA seeks more information as to how 1,1,2-trichloroethane produced as a byproduct at pulp and paper manufacturing facilities is further used, disposed of, and/or distributed by the producing facility. Additionally, EPA seeks information on process descriptions, airborne exposure concentrations of 1,1,2-trichloroethane, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and controls relevant to this OES.

• Whether 350 operating days per site-year is an appropriate default for EPA to use for the number of operating days for a manufacturing facility and also comment on the other default values that EPA uses for operating days for the other OES assessed (See Table 3-4).
• Information on worker schedules and exposures, including shift hours, working days per week, and working years, for any of the COUs and OESs assessed by EPA in this draft risk evaluation.
• Containers and method of transport for how 1,1,2-trichloroethane is distributed to COUs that were not reported through Chemical Data Reporting such as adhesives and sealants, use as a laboratory chemical, and for cleaning and degreasing applications such as vapor degreasing and cold cleaning.
• Information on process descriptions for how 1,1,2-trichloroethane is used in adhesives and sealants (Use of Adhesives and Sealants OES), as a laboratory chemical (Commercial Use of a Laboratory Chemical OES), and in cleaning and degreasing applications such as vapor degreasing and cold cleaning (Use of Cleaning and Degreasing Solvents OES).
• Whether there are current uses of 1,1,2-trichloroethane for the OES of Use of Cleaning and Degreasing Solvents.
• Process description and worker activity information for remediation processes involving 1,1,2-trichloroethane including information on whether the remediation OES is representative of the disposal COU.

• Additional worker inhalation monitoring data for any of the COUs and OESs assessed by EPA in the draft risk evaluation, as well as specific information on respiratory protection usage ( e.g., what type of respirator and for what tasks, how respirators are selected and assigned, etc) for all COUs.

• Information which may be useful to EPA related to existing dermal protections including specifications from the manufacturers or suppliers that demonstrate an impervious barrier to 1,1,2-trichloroethane during expected durations of use and normal conditions of exposure within the workplace, including any information which accounts for potential chemical permeation, penetration, or breakthrough times.
• EPA provided additional discussion of the available information on dermal PPE usage and existing controls for the Manufacturing as a Byproduct OES in the risk determination (see Section 6.1.3 of the draft risk evaluation). EPA welcomes additional information on how dermal protection is selected, applied, and utilized for this OES.
• Additional data on environmental releases for any of the COUs and OESs assessed by EPA in the draft risk evaluation.
• As described in Section 4.3.2.1.3 of the draft risk evaluation, EPA relied on conservative assumptions to estimate facility throughput that is utilized in the occupational exposure model for the OES of Repackaging for Laboratory Chemical Use. EPA seeks additional information to inform the use of these conservative assumptions, or to further refine the assumptions utilized in this exposure model.

VI. Next Steps

After consideration of comments received from the public on the draft risk evaluation and input from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) peer review, EPA will issue a final risk evaluation for 1,1,2-trichloroethane. Under TSCA section 6, EPA must use the final risk evaluation as a basis to determine, based on the weight of scientific evidence, whether the chemical presents an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment under the chemical's COUs. This includes risks to subpopulations who may be at greater risks than the general population, such as children and workers. TSCA prohibits EPA from considering non-risk factors ( e.g., costs/benefits) during risk evaluation.

For more information about the TSCA risk evaluation process for existing chemicals, go to https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca.

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.