The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed limits on the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone, a solvent in many products used by both consumers and workers, ranging from arts and crafts supplies to paint remover, that is linked to serious health effects.
The chemical, also known as NMP, is used to make semiconductors and lithium ion batteries, and is also found in plastics, paints and consumer cleaning products. It has been found to cause miscarriages, reduced male fertility and damage to the liver, kidneys and immune and nervous systems.
If finalized, the E.P.A.’s rule would ban some commercial uses of NMP, such as in automotive and cleaning products, and limit the concentration of NMP allowed in some consumer products, such as glue. It would also establish safeguards, including requirements for protective equipment, for workers exposed to NMP.
“We’re making great strides in our efforts to protect people’s health from exposure to chemicals like NMP,” said Michal Freedhoff, the E.P.A.’s assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “Our proposed common-sense worker protections would keep people safe while also ensuring that NMP could continue to be used, as needed.”
The proposed NMP rule is part of a stream of constraints on harmful substances imposed by the Biden administration. The government recently banned the only type of asbestos that had still been in use in the United States, and it has placed limits on the use of methylene chloride, a toxic chemical found in paint strippers, adhesives, metal cleaners and aerosol solvents.
They are the first chemical regulations to emerge from a law passed in 2016, when Congress overhauled the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act by requiring the testing and regulation of thousands of chemicals used in everyday products.
Under that law, the E.P.A. published a list of 10 toxic chemicals, including asbestos, methylene chloride and NMP, that it intended to evaluate for regulation.
The Obama administration, in its final days, concluded that NMP presented an “unreasonable risk” and moved to ban its use in paint thinners. But the Trump administration delayed enactment of that and other proposed restrictions on hazardous chemicals, despite an evaluation in 2020 by the E.P.A. that found that NMP harms reproductive health and internal organs.
Still, some private companies moved to limit their use of the chemical. In 2018, Lowe’s, the large home improvement retailer, announced that it would no longer sell paint strippers that contained NMP and methylene chloride.
The E.P.A.’s proposed rule would ban the commercial use of NMP in automotive care products, cleaning and degreasing agents, furniture care products, antifreeze and de-icing substances, lubricants, fertilizers and other goods. Glues and adhesives would not be allowed to have an NMP concentration greater than 45 percent, while other types of consumer products would be limited in container size and require labeling.
Industry groups have said that new chemical regulations would impede the manufacture of lithium ion batteries and other products necessary to build electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies. President Biden has aggressively promoted E. V.s as the centerpiece of his plan to fight climate change, since cutting pollution from gas-powered vehicles is one of the most effective ways to slow the dangerous heating of the planet.
In public comments filed in response to the E.P.A.’s proposed regulation of NMP and three other substances, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobby, wrote that the solvents “are critical to the manufacturing and production of lithium rechargeable batteries, a component necessary in advancing the administration’s clean transportation and advanced battery manufacturing work force goals.” The organization wrote that regulation could mean “significantly stifling innovation.”
Environmental groups said the E.P.A.’s proposal does not go far enough to protect people exposed to NMP, particularly those who live near factories and other industrial facilities where the chemicals are used.
“You have this chemical that is causing severe health risks to workers, consumers and surrounding communities and those risks have not been adequately regulated under any other law,” said Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a lawyer at Earthjustice, an advocacy group.
“But if you have a rule that looks primarily at consumers and workers but does not address fence line communities near the facilities where these chemicals are being manufactured, then E.P.A. is not complying with the law,” Mr. Kalmuss-Katz said, referring to the 2016 chemical safety law under which the rule is being released.
The E.P.A. will accept public comments on the proposed rule for 45 days. It may then make changes to the rule before finalizing it, likely in the next year.