Senators ask EPA to
adopt interim rule for TCE vapors
Oct. 11Six U.S. senators have written a letter to the Environmental
Protection Agency asking it adopt a health protective interim standard
for exposure to trichloroethylene vapors.
The senators noted that TCE, a solvent used for cleaning metal parts,
is a widespread contaminant found in at least 325 of the nation´s more
than 1,200 Superfund sites, and that the chemical has been linked to
cancer and damage to the nervous and immune systems.
The EPA published a health risk assessment report in August 2001 that
called for increasing protections from TCE, but the EPA is asking the
National Academies of Science to re-evaluate TCE´s toxicity. The process
"may take years," the senators complained in their Oct. 5 letter to EPA
Administrator Stephen Johnson.
In the absence of a national standard, standards set by states and
the federal government vary at sites across the country. "Today,
thousands of Americans may be exposed to unhealthy levels of TCE," the
senators wrote.
TCE vapors from hazardous waste sites can seep into nearby basements
and homes.
The senators signing the letter were Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.;
Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.; Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.;
Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.; Gordon Smith, R-Ore.; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
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