Environmental Risks Misrepresented in EPA Chemical Assessment

On March 9, 2020, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) issued a report which finds that an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) document evaluating the risks associated with a widely used solvent (N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP)) was "misleading." The SACC report notes that EPA's Draft Risk Evalutation of NMP states that the chemical poses no environmental risks. However, according to the SACC, EPA based that finding solely on an analysis of the impact of NMP discharges to water. The SACC expressed "concern[] that consideration of environmental releases to water alone provides an inadequate picture of risk from this chemical. The Agency's current approach . . . leaves over 99% of all environmental releases for NMP unassessed." Given this, in the SACC's view, "statements [in the Draft Risk Evaluation] regarding “no environmental risks” are misleading and must be modified. Only risks posed through surface waters were considered for environmental receptors in this evaluation. The NMP evaluation needs to be more specific in describing what risks were assessed and identifying what risks were expected but not assessed."

Update:

In December 2020, EPA issued a Final Risk Evaluation of NMP, in which it maintained its position that the chemical poses "no unreasonable risks to the environment, general population, bystanders, or occupational non-users." The Final Risk Evaluation did, however, find "unreasonable risks to workers and consumers" using NMP. 

On January 15, 2021 the EPA withdrew a proposed ban on NMP.