Toxic Substances

Little is known about the risks posed by many of the chemicals to which millions of consumers and workers are exposed. Although the amount of exposure to a chemical can vary greatly depending on its use, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) information on chemical use is often scarce, incomplete, or outdated. EPA has proposed developing a Chemical Use Inventory that would include about 12,000 chemicals on its Chemical Use Inventory, which should help the agency assess the chemical's risks and to set priorities for its programs for toxic substances. However, the chemical industry, public interest groups, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission generally believe that the number of chemicals in the inventory should be limited. GAO concludes that implementing the inventory on a smaller scale than currently envisioned, initially covering as many as several thousand chemicals suspected to pose the greatest risk, would provide key data on chemical use and exposure while limiting the reporting burden on the chemical industry and EPA's data management requirements.

GAO found that: (1) EPA and various other organizations differ on which chemicals should be included in the inventory, the specific types of data that should be obtained, and the source of the data; (2) EPA has proposed collecting general data on chemical use and exposure from chemical manufacturers and importers on about 12,000 chemicals; (3) EPA officials intend to protect legitimate confidential business information contained in the chemical use inventory; and (4) EPA has not decided whether to implement the inventory through the regular federal rulemaking process or through negotiations with interested parties.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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