Consumer Use Of Popular But Deadly Paint Stripper Banned By EPA–But Advocates Say Agency Should Have Gone Further
The EPA will still allow commercial use of the lethal chemical. The Trump administration “will be partly to blame when the next worker is injured or dies as a result of being exposed to this extremely dangerous chemical,” attorney Melanie Benesh of the Environmental Working Group said.
The New York Times:
E.P.A., Scaling Back Proposed Ban, Plans Limits On Deadly Chemical In Paint Strippers
The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Friday new limits on a lethal chemical found in paint stripping products that has been linked to more than 50 deaths since the 1980s. Chemical safety activists called the plan a significant scaling-back of the ban that the Obama administration had proposed. In 2017 the Obama administration concluded the chemical, methylene chloride, represented an “unreasonable risk” and moved to ban it from commercial as well as consumer use. (Friedman, 3/15)
The Associated Press:
EPA Bans Consumer Use Of Deadly Paint Stripper, In Rare Step
The EPA cited "the acute fatalities that have resulted from exposure to the chemical" and an "unreasonable" risk to consumers. Retail stores have until later this year to remove the product from sale. Many big chains already stopped sale of products with methylene chloride in recent months, amid a campaign led by environmental groups and families of men overcome and killed by fumes from the paint stripper. (3/15)
