?/EPA
                  United States
                  Environmental Protection
                  Agency
                                   Pollution Prevention
                                   and Toxics
                                   (7401 )
EPA 745-F-98-002a
October 1998
            Chemical Right to Know Fact Sheet Series
            The  Chemical   Right-to-Know
            Initiative  Overview
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                         Vice President Gore announced EPA's Chemical Right-to-Know Initiative on
                   the eve of Earth Day 1998 in response to the finding that most commercial chemi-
                   cals have very little, if any, toxicity information on which to make sound judge-
                   ments about potential risks. In fact, studies by the Environmental Defense Fund,
                   the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and by EPA have shown that only a
                   small percentage of common high-volume production (HPV) chemicals are well-
                   tested. EPA estimates that, at the current pace of testing, it would take thirty
                   years to have all HPVs tested. There are three key components to this initiative,
                   each of which is being rapidly implemented by EPA: These are:

                   Get baseline testing done on the most widely used commercial chemicals. EPA
                   will challenge industry to voluntarily undertake testing on HPV chemicals. The
                   Agency hopes to have all testing completed on several thousand HPVs by 2004.
                   For those chemicals not selected by companies for volunteer testing, EPA will
                   require the testing by law using the testing authorities in Section 4 of the Toxic
                   Substances Control Act.

                   Conduct extensive testing on chemicals to which children are disproportionately
                   exposed. Children's health is especially sensitive to chemical exposures. EPA will
                   identify the chemicals that may lead to excess exposures in children, and will
                   identify a battery of health tests needed to fully assess these chemicals. The
                   Agency intends to publish a test rule proposal in February 1999 to. cover the first
                   round of priority chemicals to be tested. EPA will also pursue agreements with the
                   manufacturers and users of these substances to test chemicals and minimize
                   potential risks.

                   Collect TRI release information on high-priority PBT chemicals. Persistent,
                   bioaccumulative, toxic chemicals (PBTs) are of special concern due to their envi-
                   ronmental persistence and tendency to concentrate in body tissues. Yet, many
                   PBTs are not covered by Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting. EPA will
                   propose a rule to lower the threshold for reporting of .PBTs already on TRI, and to
                   add other PBTs (also at lowered thresholds) to reporting requirements. The first
                   PBT rule will be proposed by the end of 1998 and finalized in 1999.

                         At the core of the Chemical Right-to-Know Initiative is EPA's commitment
                   to making data available to the public in a way that is easy to access, use and
                   understand. Virtually all of the information generated from this initiative will be
                   readily available through the Internet and in other forms. The public can then
                   access information about the chemicals in their homes, schools, workplaces, and
                   communities. With this information, they can make informed choices and deci-
                   sions about their health and local environment.

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