EPA proposes new rules for five chemicals

The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new rules that would force companies to report any new uses that arise in relation to a group of potentially harmful chemicals: polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs); benzidine dyes; a ‘short chain chlorinated paraffin’; hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD); and di-n-pentyl phthalate (DNPP). These chemicals have been used in a range of consumer products and industrial applications, including: paints; printing inks; pigments and dyes in textiles; flame retardants in flexible foams; and plasticisers. And although most of them are no longer made or used in the US, they can still be imported in consumer goods or for use in new products.