EPA RELEASES HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF TCE

EPA RELEASES HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF TCE

On September 28, 2011, the EPA released its final human health assessment related to trichloroethylene (“TCE”). TCE was used extensively in the US as a degreaser and a solvent. It has been effectively abandoned since the early 1980s, but it is still prevalent in soil and groundwater at many Superfund sites. EPA found “convincing evidence” of causal link between TCE exposure and kidney cancer, a strong link between TCE exposure and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and some evidence of association between TCE exposure and other cancers.

The final human health assessment will affect sites which contain TCE because the EPA indicated it will: (1) establish cleanup methods at Superfund sites where TCE has been identified as a contaminant; (2) work to understand how TCE vapor moves from contaminated soil and water into the indoor air of overlying buildings; (3) revise its Maximum Contaminant Level for TCE in drinking water; and (4) develop regulatory standards limiting the atmospheric emissions of TCE – a hazardous air pollutant under the Clean Air Act. Any sites in which TCE has been identified will likely face many new regulations from EPA and local regulatory bodies based on this final health assessment.