EPA adds NPEs to Toxics Release Inventory

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency is adding 13 nonylphenol ethoxylates to its Toxics Release Inventory Program, which “tracks the management of listed toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment.”

NPEs are used in adhesives, cleaners, coatings, defoamers, dispersants, emulsifiers, stabilizers, paints and wetting agents, the agency states. According to the final rule, published in the June 12 Federal Register, EPA “determined that longer-chain NPEs can break down in the environment to short-chain NPEs and nonylphenol, both of which are highly toxic to aquatic organisms.”

“We are taking an important step to provide communities with additional information about toxic chemicals being released to the environment,” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a June 7 press release. “By making information about industrial management of toxic chemicals available to the public, community members, researchers, industrial facilities, investors, and government agencies can make more informed decisions that impact human health and the environment.”

The final rule goes into effect in the 2019 TRI reporting year, and the first reporting forms are due July 1, 2020. “Facilities that meet TRI reporting thresholds will begin collecting information on Jan. 1, 2019,” the press release states.