Joint Announcement of Cooperative Program for High Production Volume U. S. Industrial Chemicals

Posted: 09-Oct-1998; Updated: 20-Jun-2003

Testing chemicals for their potential to cause harm to human health and the environment is an essential part of chemical safety. Since 1990, there has been international consensus about what screening tests should be conducted on high production volume chemicals for this purpose, and on the fact that chemical testing and public safety go hand in hand.

However, many of the major industrial chemicals being used in the United States have not been subjected to the full battery of SIDS screening tests. Some chemicals already have been tested extensively, but most have not, or if they have, the results are not publicly available.

Therefore, additional chemical testing is needed, and the sooner the better. The organizations participating in this statement bring very different perspectives to this issue, but we all share the view that carrying out this task is both a major undertaking and good public policy.

To accomplish this goal, we have come together in support of a cooperative program that will significantly increase the pace of testing. It is both aggressive and realistic, and addresses this situation more quickly than would have been possible under a traditional regulatory approach. The estimated cost of the needed testing is in the range of $500 to $700 million over the next six years.

Separate studies by the Environmental Defense Fund (1997), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1998), and the Chemical Manufacturers Association (1998) have all confirmed that basic toxicity testing data are not now publicly available for a majority of the approximately 2,800 industrial chemicals used in highest volume in the U.S. economy (those made or imported in quantities of more than a million pounds per year). The lack of data in the public domain prompted Vice President Gore, on April 21, 1998, to challenge industry to rapidly supply the missing information.

That challenge is now being met, through a unique cooperative approach. With the testing program announced today, the Chemical Manufacturers Association and leading members of the chemical industry are demonstrating their commitment to the principles of Responsible Care®, the industry?s international initiative to increase its health, safety, and environmental performance.

Carrying out the necessary tests has two important purposes. First, it will allow efforts to protect public health and the environment to focus on those chemicals that truly show a likelihood of posing potential harm. Second, testing also will give makers and users of other chemicals the opportunity to demonstrate a low level of hazard, and thus greater confidence in those chemicals. The more that is known about which chemicals do and do not need close attention, the less anxiety there should be about unknown or undiscovered risks from chemical use in general.

The program outlined below does not cover all chemicals in U.S. commerce, nor will it identify risks or the absence of risks with scientific certainty. It will, however, address by far the largest part of that commerce, and will result in a major improvement in the level of publicly available data.

The basic elements of the testing program are:

Fixed timetable and fixed list of chemicals: testing for the approximately 2,800 chemicals in the program will begin in 1999 and will be completed by the end of the year 2004 (i.e., a little more than six years from today), with safeguards to insure steady progress in each of the years between now and then.

Voluntary emphasis with mandatory backing: companies that manufacture or import the chemicals in the program will be invited to sign up and take responsibility for testing each of their chemicals in a voluntary effort aimed at accomplishing all necessary testing within the timetable. After the sign-up period closes, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency will finalize regulations that will mandate testing for every chemical in the program that has not been signed up for voluntary testing by its manufacturer(s) or importers. Participation in the voluntary program will let manufacturers share efficiencies that would not be available under regulatory mandate. In either event, testing costs will be borne entirely by the manufacturers or importers of the chemicals.

Continuous public access to testing status and results: the public will be able to follow the testing status of each of the chemicals in the program at all times, including the names of specific manufacturers/importers who have accepted responsibility for testing specific chemicals. This will be done by making information publicly available on the Internet. The parties have committed to help the public stay informed about progress in the program, with an emphasis on whether promised testing activity is taking place when and as planned. The U.S. EPA will have lead responsibility for making results available in ways which are useful to diverse public stakeholders.

International sharing of testing responsibility: in order to meet the aggressive time frame of testing all chemicals by the end of 2004, a significant increase in the pace of testing by manufacturers of chemicals in other countries must be achieved. To do this, the signatories agree to work with other nations and international groups to assure commensurate increases in their rate of testing.

News release (10/9/98)
Why testing?
More about the program