Current:Home > MyAfter yearslong fight and dozens of deaths, EPA broadens ban on deadly chemical -TradeGrid
After yearslong fight and dozens of deaths, EPA broadens ban on deadly chemical
View
Date:2025-04-16 01:29:27
It can kill on the spot or years after prolonged exposure.
When methylene chloride’s fumes build up, the chemical switches off the brain’s respiratory center, asphyxiating its victims if it doesn’t trigger a heart attack first. At lower levels, the federal government says, it increases the risk of multiple types of cancer. And despite a 2019 ban keeping it out of consumer paint-stripping products, the chemical is still widely available in other items — from aerosol degreasers to sealants.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced April 30 that it is banning methylene chloride in all consumer uses and most workplace settings.
The move is the most sweeping since a 2015 Center for Public Integrity investigation connected dozens of deaths to the chemical and showed that experts had warned of its dangers for decades. At the time, paint strippers with methylene chloride could be bought at home-improvement stores nationwide.
An initial EPA proposal to ban such uses was shelved by the Trump administration despite more deaths. It took a sustained campaign by families of recent victims and chemical-safety groups to turn the tide.
Deadly delays:A chemical paint stripper killed their kids. Inside their heroic fight to have it banned.
“I feel like we moved an ocean, I really do,” said Lauren Atkins, whose 31-year-old son, Joshua, died in 2018 while refinishing his bike with paint stripper. “It’s a good rule. I think it could be better, I think it could have gone farther, but it’s a whole lot better than what we had.”
She and Brian Wynne, whose brother Drew died in 2017 while refinishing the floor of his business’ walk-in refrigerator, wish the government had acted more quickly. Methylene chloride deaths were recorded at least as far back as the 1940s. A 1976 medical journal piece detailed the chemical’s dangers and criticized EPA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission for not acting.
In 2016, EPA put methylene chloride on a list of 10 chemicals it intended to evaluate because of their known risks.
“Let’s look at the toxic 10 and start whittling down all of them,” Wynne said. “I think we can all agree that anything labeled as part of the toxic 10 shouldn’t be part of our daily lives.”
EPA cited at least 85 deaths and long-term health dangers when it concluded that methylene chloride posed “unreasonable risks.” But the new restrictions are not immediate. The agency is giving businesses time to phase out certain uses and phase in protections for people who will continue to work with the chemical.
Consumer sales will be fully banned in a year under the new rule. Most commercial and industrial uses will have to stop in two years. Exceptions include a 10-year extension for certain emergency uses by NASA.
Atkins, the Wynne family and Wendy Hartley, whose 21-year-old son, Kevin, died refinishing a bathtub with a methylene chloride product in 2017, worked together for years to make that happen.
They had to counter EPA resistance — top officials under the Trump administration were intent on rolling back protections, not adding more — and overcome sustained lobbying by manufacturers. Atkins called it “the longest, hardest, probably most important fight of my life.”
She hopes other people will take up the torch for safety in a world awash with harmful chemicals.
“Persistence is key,” Wynne said. “The takeaway should be: If something’s not right, don’t be afraid to raise your voice.”
Jamie Smith Hopkins is a reporter for theCenter for Public Integrity, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates inequality.
veryGood! (6497)
Related
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- Brian Wilson's family speaks out on conservatorship filing amid 'major neurocognitive disorder'
- Top National Security Council cybersecurity official on institutions vulnerable to ransomware attacks — The Takeout
- Pennsylvania high court takes up challenge to the state’s life-without-parole sentences
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Bella Hadid Gives Rare Look Into Romance with Cowboy Adam Banuelos
- Taco Bell adds the Cheesy Chicken Crispanada to menu - and chicken nuggets are coming
- Philadelphia traffic stop ends in gunfire; driver fatally wounded, officer injured
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- When Harry Met Sally Almost Had a Completely Different Ending
Ranking
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- 2024 NBA All-Star Game is here. So why does the league keep ignoring Pacers' ABA history?
- California student charged with attempted murder in suspected plan to carry out high school shooting
- After feud, Mike Epps and Shannon Sharpe meet in person: 'I showed him love'
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Cynthia Erivo talks 'Wicked,' coping with real 'fear and horror' of refugee drama 'Drift'
- What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend viewing
- Polar bears stuck on land longer as ice melts, face greater risk of starvation, researchers say
Recommendation
Could your smelly farts help science?
Kansas City tries to recover after mass shooting at Super Bowl celebration
You could save the next Sweetpea: How to adopt from the Puppy Bowl star's rescue
Alexei Navalny, jailed opposition leader and Putin’s fiercest foe, has died, Russian officials say
Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark wants more focus on team during final stretch now that NCAA record is broken
Taylor Swift tickets to Eras Tour in Australia are among cheapest one can find. Here's why.
Man convicted in 2022 shooting of Indianapolis police officer that wounded officer in the throat