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Highlights
October 21, 2011 -- EPA issued several actions under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) addressing 60 high production volume (HPV) chemicals:
- Final rule that requires manufacturers to test the health and environmental effects of 15 high production volume (HPV) chemicals
- Proposal that would require manufacturers to test the health and environmental effects of 23 HPV chemicals
- Proposal that would require companies to notify EPA prior to new uses of an additional 22 chemicals that are widely used in commerce.
Read more about these actions.
Existing Chemicals Management
Data submitted to the HPV Challenge Program are being reviewed and incorporated into the Agency's enhanced existing chemicals management activities.
Under the High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Program, companies were "challenged" to make health and environmental effects data publicly available on chemicals produced or imported in the United States in the greatest quantities. HPV chemicals are classified as those chemicals produced or imported in the United States in quantities of 1 million pounds or more per year. As of June 2007, companies sponsored more than 2,200 HPV chemicals, with approximately 1,400 chemicals sponsored directly through the HPV Challenge Program and over 860 chemicals sponsored indirectly through international efforts.
Access to HPV chemical information enables the public to participate in environmental decision-making at all levels – federal, state, and local. With the scheduled submission of data under the HPV Challenge Program now complete, the focus has shifted to data use, both by the public and by EPA in its mission to protect human health and the environment.
This Web site provides:
- Basic Information - Read a summary of the HPV Challenge Program and its background - why the program was created, how it worked, what basic data it collected, and how the data are being used.
- HPV Chemical Data - Access health and environmental effects data collected by the program. Data is accessible either as original sponsor submissions or through the High Production Volume Information System (HPVIS), a database that allows users to perform more refined searches and queries of program chemical data.
- Public Use of HPV Chemical Data - View ways in which the public and other stakeholders can use collected program data.
- EPA Chemical Data Screening, Review, and Characterization - Learn about EPA's review of HPV chemical data and link to EPA hazard characterization documents.
- Voluntary Chemical Sponsorships - Learn how the voluntary chemical sponsorship portion of the program was established, which companies sponsored chemicals, how companies collected and submitted HPV chemical data, and the accomplishments of this effort.
- EPA Regulatory Actions for Unsponsored Chemicals - Get a list of HPV chemicals that were not sponsored in the voluntary portion of the program and information on EPA regulatory actions to collect data for these chemicals.
- Related Links - Get a list of related Web sites, including international and other HPV Chemical Programs such as OECD eChemPortal
and the OECD Chemicals Safety Program.