EPA Reconsiders Parts of the Degreasing Standard
EPA recently published a notice of reconsideration for portions of its May 2007 amendments to the halogenated solvent cleaning (degreasing) standard.  The notice seeks comment on three options for revising the standard to address concerns raised by environmental groups and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, including an option to make no changes.  Comments are due by December 4.

HSIA Comments on EPA PERC Draft
In its extensive comment on EPA’s draft toxicological review of perchloroethylene, HSIA argues that the draft fails to conduct an objective and comprehensive assessment of the relevant studies in humans and laboratory animals, including several more recent publications specifically designed to answer questions raised in earlier studies.

EPA’s assessment of the cancer epidemiological evidence for perchloroethylene contrasts sharply with the assessment recently completed by the European Union which considered the same data. The primary difference is that the European report recognizes the limitations of the mixed solvent community drinking water studies on which EPA appears to place equal weight to the cohort studies. It is particularly disturbing that EPA has discounted a study (Lynge et al. 2006) designed expressly to answer the key questions posed by the extensive epidemiologic data base: why were increased esophageal cancers observed in perchloro-ethylene-only subcohorts studied by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Heath and the National Cancer Institute, but not in other studies?