The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently drafted a new chemical review protocol for hazardous materials to address “incomplete and hard to follow documentation” present in the 2018 Application of Systematic Review in Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Risk Evaluations, an EPA press release said.
The TSCA Systematic Review Protocol will provide additional tools for EPA reviewers including data evaluation training, improved evaluation forms and additional guidance, the release said. The protocol addresses the review of 20 high-priority chemicals and evaluations of asbestos and 1,4-dioxane.
“We must build our chemical risk evaluations on strong science in order to provide meaningful protections for all communities from dangerous chemicals," Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in the release. “The protocol released today was developed in close collaboration with EPA’s Office of Research and Development and incorporates the feedback of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to improve our process for using high quality, best available scientific data and studies in TSCA risk evaluations.”
The protocol will also enhance the EPA’s ability to review and select scientific studies for improving future risk evaluations, the release said. The EPA’s proposal supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of using the best scientific data available when developing policies and programs and making evidence-based decisions.
The previous protocol, released during the Trump Administration, was found by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) to be incomplete and lacking in “comprehensive, workable, objective, and transparent,” methodology, according to a 2019 NASEM TSCA Committee study.
The EPA will be accepting public comments on the draft until February 18, 2022, the release said. Further information can be found on regulations.gov in docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0414. A public peer review will be announced by early March 2022.
