WELCOME TO THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER
(Copyright 2008 Environmental Defense)

SUMMARY STATISTICS (Updated as of 6-30-08)
WHAT'S NEW IN THIS UPDATE?

WHAT IS THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER?  (EXPERIENCED USERS CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE TRACKER DATABASE)
HOW TO ACCESS THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER
NAVIGATING THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER
UNDERSTANDING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER
CHANGES MADE IN EARLIER UPDATES

Summary Statistics (including all postings to the EPA website as of 6-30-08):

[NOTE: The pie chart and table immediately below are updated, but the more detailed breakdowns and the HPV Tracker itself are not.]

 

 

 Grouping No. of chems

%

 Chemicals included in category
 exempted or
 
removed
429 15%  231 unsponsored non-orphans plus 198 exempted
 chems (EPA codes E1,E3,E5)
 final data sets
 (incl. SIARs)
1201 43%  760 chems in final US submissions plus 9 US
 chems and
273 ICCA chems and 159 OECD
 chems w/ final SIARs
 test plan or
 posted SIAR
 
only
522 19%  466 US and 41 ICCA sponsored chems w/ test plans
 but not final submissions plus 9 ICCA chems and 6
 OECD chems w/ pending SIARs
 no test plan
 or SIAR
356 13%  328 sponsored chems w/o test plans or SIARs plus
 28 OECD chems w/o SIARs
 orphans 274 10%  unsponsored orphans
 TOTAL 2782

 

 

 

 

[NOTE:  The detailed breakdowns below have not been updated, and still reflect status as of 7-6-07.]

More detailed breakdowns

WHAT'S NEW IN THIS UPDATE? (back to top)

WHAT IS THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER? (back to top)

[NOTE: New users may wish to print out the instructions below for easy reference while using the Tracker.]

The HPV Chemical Tracker is a web-accessible tool that can be used to determine and track the status of commitments made to sponsor HPV chemicals under the U.S. HPV Challenge Program.  The Tracker database itself is provided in the form of a MS Excel spreadsheet that can be launched in your browser or downloaded for offline use.  The Tracker provides information for all chemicals included in the program and all commitments made by companies and consortia under the program.

The Tracker will be periodically updated.  The current version reflects all information made public by EPA via its HPV Challenge Program web site, and other public sources, as indicated in the section immediately above this one.

We have necessarily relied on publicly available information (from the above sources) in building the Tracker.  If you believe information it contains is inaccurate or out of date, please contact the Tracker's creator, Dr. Richard Denison, at rdenison@environmentaldefense.org.  But we urge users also to contact EPA with any corrections/updates, as the official EPA information will continue to be our primary source for the Tracker. 

If you wish to be informed when the Tracker is updated, send your email address to Dr. Richard Denison, at rdenison@environmentaldefense.org.  

Records shown in red type have company/consortia comments or clarifications -- see Column W on the Commitments tab, Column AB on the Test Plans tab, and Column P on the Unsponsored Chemicals tab.

HOW TO ACCESS THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER (back to top)

1. IMPORTANT NOTE: The Tracker uses several Excel functions called macros, which need to be "enabled" for it to work properly. You need to make sure your macro security level is set to Medium or Low in order to enable the macros. To check, do the following:

2. Click on this link to access the Tracker database. Then, either: a) left-click to launch the Tracker in your browser; or b) if you want a copy of the Tracker database on your own computer for use off-line, right-click and select "Save Target as ..." to download, and then open the downloaded file in MS Excel. If you are prompted to enable or disable macros, be sure to enable them. [NOTE: If you download the Tracker, be sure to come back to our website periodically to make sure you have the latest version.]

3. Once you have the Tracker database open, note that it has three primary data tabs and two supplementary tabs (the tabs are visible at the bottom left). The first tab, called "Commitments," has records of all of the individual commitments made by companies and consortia under the HPV Challenge program, and their status. The second tab, called "Test Plans," has records of all the chemicals covered by Test Plans submitted under the program to date, and their status.  The third tab, called "Unsponsored Chemicals," has records of all chemicals within the scope of the program that have not been sponsored, as well as the companies that identified themselves as manufacturers of these chemicals in 1998 (the latest publicly available information).   The other two tabs provide a repository of changed or out-of-date records.

Each tab has many rows of data, numbered down the left side of the screen, that extend off the screen to the bottom - these are the individual records. It also has many columns of data, lettered across the top of the screen, that extend off the screen to the right, each column identified by a descriptive text header. Use the vertical and horizontal scroll bars to bring more rows and columns into view.

The section below on NAVIGATING THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER tells you how to move around in the Tracker and how to search for, sort or select for the information you are most interested in. The section below on UNDERSTANDING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER has explanations of what information is included in each column on each of the three main tabs.

4. Accessing chemical-specific information through the Tracker requires that you know the CAS number for the chemical in question (see point 5 below for how to find a CAS number for a chemical you're interested in if you don't already know it). CAS numbers serve as unique identifiers for chemicals; each CAS number has between five and nine digits. Because a single chemical often has more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol), CAS numbers should be used as the primary way to search for chemicals.

The Tracker uses CAS numbers in the format of a simple number with five to nine digits (e.g., ethanol's CAS number is 64175). CAS numbers are often represented in an alternative format that intersperses hyphens among the digits (i.e., a group of between two and six digits, followed by a hyphen, then two digits, another hyphen, and the final digit; the CAS number for ethanol in this format is 64-17-5).

If you already have the CAS number for a chemical you're interested in, you can use the Find function of MS Excel (Ctrl-F) to find information about it (the Tracker's more advanced search/sort/filter functions are explained in the next section). Be sure to remove any hyphens from the CAS number (e.g., change 64-17-5 to 64175).

5. If you don't know the CAS number but have a name for the chemical, use one of the following websites to try to identify it; enter the name you have, and note the CAS number that is provided by the search engine for the website.

Scorecard: www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/
National Institutes of Health ChemIDPlus: chem.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/
CambridgeSoft's ChemFinder: chemfinder.cambridgesoft.com/

6. If you can't find a CAS number using the above websites, as a last resort you can enter all or part of the name you have into the MS Excel Find function (Ctrl-F) in the Tracker itself. But because an exact match is required, and chemicals can have more than one name (only one of which is provided in the Tracker), it may not work.

NAVIGATING THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER (back to top)

The Tracker provides several navigational aids for finding the information you want among the nearly 7000 commitment records, the nearly 1300 test plan records, and the nearly 750 orphan chemical records it contains:  Filters, Sort buttons, and Show/Hide Columns buttons.

SORT BUTTONS:  Each of the three data tabs has several buttons labeled "Sort by _____".  Clicking on one of these buttons sorts all of the displayed records on that tab by the parameter indicated.  For example, "Sort by CAS" displays all of the records in ascending numeric order by CAS number; "Sort by Test Plan" displays all of the records in alphabetical order by test plan name.  IMPORTANT:  If you have applied a filter – see next topic – these sort buttons retain the filter, i.e., they allow you to sort the records displayed after applying the filter.  But if you are seeing fewer records than you expect after using a sort button, you may need to remove one or more filters that have been applied; see next section for how to use/remove filters.

FILTERS:  Each column's text header has a in the lower right corner.  Click on this down-arrow to show a list of all unique entries in that column.  If you want to display only those records having a particular one of the values shown, select it and all records not having that value in that column will be hidden.  When a filter is on, the arrowhead in its button turns blue; otherwise, it is black (ambient lighting may make this hard to see).

Each column has a filter that allows you to view those records having one of the various possible values found in that column.  For example, if you're on the commitments tab and want to show all of a particular company's commitments, select the down-arrow in the text header for column G, and scroll down the list until you find the company or consortium you want.  Note that the list is alphabetical, and that consortia names are preceded by an asterisk (*), and are list first.  Similarly, if you're interested in seeing only those commitments with a particular status, click on the down arrow in the text header for column F and select the status indicator you're interested in.

Filters can be applied sequentially:  You can use a filter in one column, and then use one in another column to select a subset of the records shown after applying the first filter.  You can also use the "(Custom)" selection on the pull-down list to select, for example, all records having either of two values in a particular column.

To remove a filter, pull down the list, scroll back to the top, and select "All" to again make all records visible.

One limitation:  The pull-down list has a maximum capacity of 1000 unique values.  Currently the only data types that have more than 1000 unique values in a column are the CAS numbers and Chemical names on the first two tabs.  So if you want to view all records for a given chemical, you should probably first sort by CAS and then locate the CAS number using Excel's Find function (Ctrl-F).

SHOW/HIDE COLUMNS BUTTONS:  At the very top of the screen (above row 1) you will see a sign above certain columns, with a note saying to click on it to see more detail about a particular topic.  Clicking on one of these buttons will reveal several additional columns of data to its right, and will change the sign to a sign; clicking on the sign will hide the columns again.  These buttons are there to reduce "clutter", and are simply altering what data are visible on the screen; if you sort or filter records, the data in any hidden columns is sorted or filtered along with the visible data.

REMOVE ALL FILTERS and RESTORE DEFAULT VIEW buttons are available at the top left of each tab.  If you have applied any filters, clicking on the REMOVE ALL FILTERS button clears all filters and restores all records to the view.  Similarly, clicking on the RESTORE DEFAULT VIEW button removes all filters and applies the default sort to return the records to their original order.  (The default sort criterion is that in the leftmost column:  CAS number on the Commitments tab, and Test Plan name on the Test Plan tab.)

UNDERSTANDING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE HPV CHEMICAL TRACKER (back to top)

The Tracker is a MS Excel spreadsheet that has five tabs, one providing information on "Commitments", a second on "Test Plans", a third on "Unsponsored Chemicals," a fourth on "Previously Unsponsored Chemicals", and a fifth on "ED Letters." Below are descriptions of the data to be found in each column of each of the tabs.  This information also appears in a "bubble" that pops up if you hover your mouse over any of the column text headers.

COMMITMENTS TAB – Explanation of Contents

A

CAS Number:  CAS numbers are unique chemical identifiers comprised of between five and nine digits.  They should be used as the primary way to search for chemicals, because chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  Sort or filter by CAS number to see all commitments to a given chemical.  [NOTE:  The filter's pull-down list shows only the first 1000 entries in this table, so you may need to sort by CAS and then search for the CAS number to view all entries for a particular chemical.]

B

Chemical name:  Chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  For this reason, it is better to use CAS numbers as the primary way to search for chemicals.

C

List origin:  Indicates whether the chemical is:
·    on the 1990 Inventory of HPV chemicals, which is the initial "core list" for the HPV Challenge program;
·    on the 1994 Inventory of HPV chemicals and, though not within the scope of the program, has been sponsored; or
·    an additional chemical (may or may not be HPV), though not within the scope of the program, has been sponsored.
See
www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/update/hpvchmlt.htm for more information on these lists.

D

Is the chemical: sponsored (Sp), exempted (E1-3-5), being handled under OECD, or an unsponsored chemical (U)?
Indicates whether the chemical is:

·    Sp: a sponsored chemical;
·    E1: exempted because EPA determined at the outset that sufficient data were already available or that more data would not aid in
        understanding the chemical’s hazard potential;

·    E3: exempted because it is a polymer or inorganic not subject to the HPV Challenge program;
·    E5: exempted because EPA determined it is no longer qualifies as a high-production-volume chemical (i.e., is no longer produced in
        quantities of one million pounds or more annually);

·    OECD:  being handled exclusively under the OECD Screening Information Data Set (SIDS) Program; or
·   U:  an unsponsored chemical, i.e., an HPV chemical within the scope of the program that has neither been sponsored nor exempted.

E

Name of consortium with which commitment is associated: Indicates the consortium, if any, with which the commitment is associated, based on information provided in EPA's summary table of commitments at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/sumresp.htm.

F

Sponsorship status:  Type of sponsorship commitment made to the chemical, as follows:
·    F = Full commitment directly under the HPV Challenge
·    I = Indirect commitment through the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA)
·    P = Provisional commitment under the HPV Challenge, pending confirmation
·    PV = Provisional Viable Commitment to HPV Challenge, received after the original deadline (December 2000) for making program
          commitments and pending confirmation

·    TI = Tentative ICCA Commitment, pending confirmation
·    V = Viable Commitment to HPV Challenge, received after the original deadline (December 2000) for making program commitments
·    NA -- not applicable
See
www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/sumresp.htm for EPA's summary table of program commitments.

G

Committing company or consortium sponsor:  Indicates the company or consortium making the commitment to sponsor the chemical; there may be more than one sponsor for a given chemical.  Sort by sponsor to group together all a particular company's or consortium's sponsored chemicals.  Sort by CAS to see all of the commitments that have been made for a given chemical.  An asterisk (*) indicates that the sponsor is a consortium (i.e., a group of companies).  The companies and consortia indicated in this column are those listed in the leftmost column of EPA's summary table of program commitments, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/sumresp.htm.

H

Start year currently listed for initiation of data development:  The start year (SY) listed in the latest version of EPA's summary table of program commitments, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/sumresp.htm.  Blanks or "Per Consortia Letter" entries were replaced based on predominant SY or that of the corresponding consortium with the same status indicator; solo TI commitments are arbitrarily assigned 2003 SY.  NA = Not available;  "--" = Not applicable.

I

Baseline start year for initiation of data development:  The start year (SY) listed in the 7-12-02 version of EPA's summary table of program commitments, which serves as our baseline set of SYs and may differ from that currently listed (for further explanation, see "Moving Target" on page 18 of our status report, Facing the Challenge, available at www.environmentaldefense.org/go/HPVchallenge).  Blanks or "Per Consortia Letter" entries were replaced based on predominant SY or that of the corresponding consortium with the same status indicator; solo TI commitments are arbitrarily assigned 2003 SY; for new commitments, the currently listed SY is shown.  NA = Not available; "--" = Not applicable.

J

Has a Test Plan been submitted or is it overdue?  Indicates whether a Test Plan covering this CAS number has been submitted or not.  If so, this column's entry reads "Submitted."  If not, then if under any commitment for the CAS number:
  -
a SIAR has been discussed or agreed at a SIAM (see column U), or a CICAD or EHC document is available for the chemical, then the chemical is deemed to have at least the equivalent of a test plan submitted and this column's entry indicates the document status.

  - a SIAR has been posted by OECD but not yet discussed, this column's entry reads "SIAR posted." 
  -
the chemical is otherwise being addressed under the OECD SIDS Program, then this column's entry reads "see OECD status (column U)."
If the chemical is exempt or unsponsored, this column's entry reads "NA."

If none of the above apply, this column's entry reads "Overdue."  This status reflects that all test plans under the Challenge were due by the end of 2003.

K

Test Plan name:  For a test plan covering a single chemical, the test plan name is the chemical name.  For a test plan covering a category, the test plan name is the category name.  Sort or filter by test plan name to group together all chemicals in a category.
See EPA's table of links to Test Plans, at
www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm. For more detail on the sponsorship commitments, click the sign above this column to reveal columns L-O to the right.

L

Test Plan sponsor:  Name of company or consortium that submitted the test plan.  An asterisk (*) indicates a consortium.  See EPA's table of links to Test Plans, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

M

Is Test Plan for a category (C) or individual chemical (I)?  Indicates whether the test plan covers a single chemical or a category of chemicals.

N

Date Test Plan was submitted:  Indicates the date the test plan was submitted to EPA, based on the date provided on the cover letter, transmittal email or test plan itself.  See EPA's table of links to Test Plans, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

O

Was the Test Plan submitted early, on time or late?  Indicates whether the Test Plan was submitted early, on time or late.  The baseline start year (column I) is used to determine this.  If a baseline start year is not available, the currently listed start year (column H) is used.  (For further explanation of baseline start years, see "Moving Target" on page 18 of our status report, Facing the Challenge, available at www.environmentaldefense.org/go/HPVchallenge.)

P Has the category been revised? (if so, date):  Indicates whether an original category proposal has been revised by the Sponsor, based on comments received during the public comment period.  The date is the date of notification that the category is to be revised, and may or may not be the date when a revised test plan has been submitted (the latter is indicated in column S).
Q New category/test plan name:  Indicates the name given to the revised test plan covering the chemical in a given record.  The name may or may not be for a category, depending on whether the Sponsor has proposed to include the chemical in a revised category or has proposed to address it as an individual chemical.
R Is new Test Plan for a category (C) or individual chemical (I)?  Indicates whether the Sponsor has proposed to include the chemical in a revised category or has proposed to address it as an individual chemical.
S Date new Test Plan was submitted:   Indicates the date when a revised test plan covering this chemical was submitted.

T

Is this chemical covered by a Test Plan submitted under an independent commitment?  In some cases more than one company or consortium have independently sponsored a given chemical.  A "Y" in this column indicates that a test plan has been submitted under a different sponsorship commitment than the one in the row being read.  Sort by CAS to see under what commitment a test plan was submitted for the chemical of interest.

U

Status of CAS on OECD SIDS list: A=SIAR agreed; D=SIAR discussed, not yet agreed; P=SIAR posted on CDG for discussion; dS=draft SIAR prepared; T=test plan reviewed; I=info gathering and review:  This column indicates whether a SIAR has been posted on the Committee Discussion Group (CDG), discussed or agreed on by the OECD SIDS Program.  SIARs are the hazard assessment documents for chemicals being assessed under the SIDS Program of the OECD, an international counterpart to the HPV Challenge. If the commitment is at an earlier stage in the process, the indicators, dS, T or I are used.  The status indicators are those in the OECD Integrated HPV Database (available at cs3-hq.oecd.org/scripts/hpv/) as of the date indicated at the top of this tab.

V Is this chemical covered by 1) a final SIDS Initial Assessment Report (SIAR) under the OECD SIDS Program, 2) a Concise International Chemical Assessment Document (CICAD) under the UN Environment Programme, the International Labour Organization, and the World Health Organization, or 3) an Environmental Health Criteria (EHC) Monographs under the World Health Organization? SIARs are the hazard assessment documents for chemicals being assessed under the SIDS Program of the OECD, an international counterpart to the HPV Challenge. Some chemicals are being assessed under the HPV Challenge even though they have already been assessed under OECD SIDS.  A "Y" in this column indicates a final SIAR has been agreed to for the chemical in question, and is based on the status of OECD SIDS Program chemicals as of the date noted at the top of the Commitments tab. See OECD Integrated HPV Database, at cs3-hq.oecd.org/scripts/hpv/. In a few cases, CICADs or EHCs already exist and either take the place of or serve as the basis for a SIAR for a chemical; these documents are listed by chemical name on the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) INCHEM website, at www.inchem.org.
W Comments from companies or consortia:  If we have received comments or clarifications regarding a particular commitment or chemical, a brief summary is provided here.  Records with comments are also shown in red type.   The remainder of the record, however, still reflects the official EPA information.   Environmental Defense makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information provided in these comments.

(back to top)

TEST PLANS TAB – Explanation of Contents

A

Test Plan name:  For a test plan covering a single chemical, the test plan name is the chemical name.  For a test plan covering a category, the test plan name is the category name.  Sort or filter by test plan name to group together all chemicals in a category.
See EPA's table of links to Test Plans, at
www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

B

Test Plan sponsor:  Name of company or consortium that submitted the test plan.  An asterisk (*) indicates a consortium.  See EPA's table of links to Test Plans, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

C

Is Test Plan for a category (C) or individual chemical (I)?  Indicates whether the test plan covers a single chemical or a category of chemicals.

D Has the category been revised? (if so, date):  Indicates whether an original category proposal has been revised by the Sponsor, based on comments received during the public comment period.  The date is the date of notification that the category is to be revised, and may or may not be the date when a revised test plan has been submitted (the latter is indicated in column E).
E Date new Test Plan was submitted:  Indicates the date when a revised test plan covering this chemical was submitted.

F

If category, number of unique HPV chemicals included:  The number of chemicals shown represents the number of unique CAS numbers for HPV chemicals; in some cases, a single CAS number may represent more than one or a mixture of chemicals.  Non-HPV chemicals included in a category are not counted.

G

CAS Number(s) covered by Test Plan:  CAS numbers are unique chemical identifiers comprised of between five and nine digits.  They should be used as the primary way to search for chemicals, because chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  Sort or filter by CAS number to see all commitments to a given chemical. [NOTE:  The filter's pull-down list shows only the first 1000 entries in this table, so you may need to sort by CAS and then search for the CAS number to view all entries for a particular chemical.]

H

Chemical(s) covered by Test Plan:  Sort or filter by Test Plan name to see all of the chemicals that are members of a category grouped together.  Chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  For this reason, use CAS numbers as the primary way to search for chemicals.  For more detail on the Test Plans, click the sign above this column to reveal columns I, J and K to the right.

I List origin:  Indicates whether the chemical is:
·    on the 1990 Inventory of HPV chemicals, which is the initial "core list" for the HPV Challenge program;
·    on the 1994 Inventory of HPV chemicals and, though not within the scope of the program, has been sponsored; or
·    an additional chemical (may or may not be HPV), though not within the scope of the program, has been sponsored.
See
www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/update/hpvchmlt.htm for more information on these lists.

J

Chemical sponsorship status:  Type of sponsorship commitment made to the chemical, as follows:
·    F = Full commitment directly under the HPV Challenge
·    I = Indirect commitment through the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA)
·    P = Provisional commitment under the HPV Challenge, pending confirmation
·    PV = Provisional Viable Commitment to HPV Challenge, received after the original deadline for making program commitments and pending
          confirmation

·    TI = Tentative ICCA Commitment, pending confirmation
·    V = Viable Commitment to HPV Challenge, received after the original deadline for making program commitments
·    NA -- not applicable
See
www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/sumresp.htm for EPA's summary table of program commitments.

K

Start year currently listed for initiation of data development:  The start year (SY) listed in the latest version of EPA's summary table of program commitments, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/sumresp.htm.  Blanks or "Per Consortia Letter" entries were replaced based on predominant SY or that of the corresponding consortium with the same status indicator; solo TI commitments are arbitrarily assigned 2003 SY.  NA = Not available;  "--" = Not applicable.

L

Baseline start year for initiation of data development:  The start year (SY) listed in the 7-12-02 version of EPA's summary table of program commitments, which serves as our baseline set of SYs and may differ from that currently listed.  (For further explanation of baseline start years, see "Moving Target" on page 18 of our status report, Facing the Challenge, available at www.environmentaldefense.org/go/HPVchallenge.)  Blanks or "Per Consortia Letter" entries were replaced based on predominant SY or that of the corresponding consortium with the same status indicator; solo TI commitments are arbitrarily assigned 2003 SY; for new commitments, the currently listed SY is shown.  NA = Not available; "--" = Not applicable.

M

Date Test Plan was submitted:  Indicates the date the test plan was submitted to EPA, based on the date provided on the cover letter, transmittal email or test plan itself.  See EPA's table of links to Test Plans, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

N

Was the Test Plan submitted early, on time or late?  Indicates whether the Test Plan was submitted early, on time or late.  The baseline start year (column K) is used to determine this.  If a baseline start year is not available, the currently listed start year (column J) is used.  (For further explanation of baseline start years, see "Moving Target" on page 18 of our status report, Facing the Challenge, available at www.environmentaldefense.org/go/HPVchallenge.)

O

Comment due date:  The due date for public comments (120 days after EPA posts the Test Plan on its website).

P

Did EPA submit comments?  If so, date posted:  Indicates whether EPA has submitted comments on the test plan, and, if so, on what date they were posted on EPA's website.  For more detail on EPA's comments, click the sign above this column to reveal columns P-R to the right.

Q

Did EPA's comments agree with category justification? (category test plans only):  Indicates whether EPA accepted or questioned the justification for the proposed category provided by the sponsor.  See the comments themselves for more detail, posted under the respective test plan on EPA's website, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

R

Did EPA's comments agree with extent of testing proposed?  Indicates whether EPA accepted the additional testing (if any) proposed by the sponsor as adequate to meet the requirements of the HPV Challenge, thought more (or less) testing was needed, or reserved judgment due to lack of sufficient information provided by the sponsor.  The meaning of the number code provided in this column is as follows:  1=testing adequate; 2=more testing needed; 3=proposed tests not needed; 4=reserve judgment/more testing may be needed.  See the comments themselves for more detail, posted under the respective test plan on EPA's website, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

S

Did EPA's comments raise other significant concerns/ issues?  Indicates whether EPA raised other serious concerns about the proposed test plan in its comment.  See the comments themselves for more detail, posted under the respective test plan on EPA's website, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

T

Did Environmental Defense (ED) submit comments?  If so, date posted:  Indicates whether ED has submitted comments on the test plan, and, if so, on what date they were posted on EPA's website.  For more detail on ED's comments, click the sign above this column to reveal columns T-W to the right.

U

Grade assigned by ED to  Test Plan (if reviewed):  For each test plan reviewed by ED, a grade was assigned by one of the two principal authors of our comments on test plans and robust summaries:  Dr. George Lucier, Ph.D., Director Emeritus of the Environmental Toxicology Program for the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, who serves as a consulting adjunct scientist for Environmental Defense; or Dr. Hazel Matthews, toxicology consultant and former Head of the Chemistry Section and Chair of the Nomination Faculty for the National Toxicology Program.

V

Did ED's comments agree with category justification? (category test plans only):  Indicates whether ED accepted or questioned the justification for the proposed category provided by the sponsor.  See the comments themselves for more detail, posted under the respective test plan on EPA's website, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

W

Did ED's comments agree with extent of testing proposed?  Indicates whether ED accepted the additional testing (if any) proposed by the sponsor as adequate to meet the requirements of the HPV Challenge, thought more (or less) testing was needed, or reserved judgment due to lack of sufficient information provided by the sponsor.  The meaning of the number code provided in this column is as follows:  1=testing adequate; 2=more testing needed; 3=proposed tests not needed; 4=reserve judgment/more testing may be needed.  See the comments themselves for more detail, posted under the respective test plan on EPA's website, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

X

Did ED's comments raise other significant concerns/ issues?  Indicates whether ED raised other serious concerns about the proposed test plan in its comment.  See the comments themselves for more detail, posted under the respective test plan on EPA's website, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

Y

Did Animal Protection Organizations (APOs) submit comments?  If so, date posted

Z

Did others submit comments?  If so, date posted

AA

Has a response/revised Test Plan been submitted?  If so, date submitted:  Indicates whether the sponsor has submitted a test plan and/or robust summaries revised in response to comments received, or, alternatively, a response to comments received justifying the original test plan/robust summaries.  See the revised documents themselves for more detail, posted under the respective test plan on EPA's website, at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/pubs/summaries/viewsrch.htm.

AB Has sponsor indicated that its dataset is final/complete and/or that no more testing is required?   Indicates whether the sponsor has stated that it believes its dataset is final or that no additional testing is needed to provide a complete final dataset.  This statement may have been made in the original test plan, a revised test plan, or a response to comments.  Such an indication does NOT mean: (a) necessarily that a final dataset has been submitted to EPA, or (b) that there has been an EPA or other independent review of the completeness or adequacy of the data.
AC Comments from companies or consortia:   If we have received comments or clarifications regarding a particular test plan or chemical, a brief summary is provided here.  Records with comments are also shown in red type.  The remainder of the record, however, still reflects the official EPA information.  Environmental Defense makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information provided in these comments.

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UNSPONSORED CHEMICALS TAB – Explanation of Contents

A

CAS Number:  CAS numbers are unique chemical identifiers comprised of between five and nine digits.  They should be used as the primary way to search for chemicals, because chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  Sort or filter by CAS number to see all commitments to a given chemical.

B

Chemical name:  Chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  For this reason, it is better to use CAS numbers as the primary way to search for chemicals.

C

Manufacturer of the chemical as of 2002, as listed in 2002 Inventory Update:  Indicates the name of the company identifying itself as manufacturing a given chemical in the non-confidential data from the 2002 Inventory Update Rule (IUR), the latest publicly available. The data source is a database file provided to Environmental Defense by EPA in June 2005 that includes a list of companies that reported producing or importing chemicals on the TSCA Inventory in the 2002 reporting cycle; these data are also available online at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-comp-chem-records.htm.  We used these data to develop the list of companies reporting unsponsored 1990 HPV chemicals included in the 2002 Inventory Update.  Multiple companies may produce a given chemical; each company identified with a chemical constitutes a separate record in this table. If no company was identified (presumably because identity was claimed as confidential business information), this is so indicated.

D Manufactured at HPV level in last (2002) reporting cycle?  Indicates whether or not the aggregate quantity of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1998 exceeded 1 million pounds.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm.  If no data were provided, this column carries a "??" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "NA" entry.   Click the sign above this column to reveal Columns E to I to the right that display the actual reported volumes for the five last reporting cycles: 2002, 1998, 1994, 1990 and 1986.
E Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 2002:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 2002.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
F Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 1998:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1998.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
G Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 1994:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1994.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
H Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 1990:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1990 (the base year for defining the list of HPV chemicals within the scope of the HPV Challenge Program).   Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
I Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 1986:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1986.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
J Is the chemical listed as an orphan in EPA's orphans list (current as of 8/22/06)?   Indicates whether EPA is designating the chemical as an orphan in its current listing (as of the date shown in the column header) online at www.epa.gov/chemrtk/index.htm (bottom of page).
K Was the chemical covered by EPA's 8/16/06 final TSCA Sec 8a and 8d rules?  Indicates whether the chemical is covered by EPA's final TSCA Section 8a Preliminary Assessment Information Reporting (PAIR) Rule or its Section 8d Health and Safety Data Reporting Rule, both issued on 8-16-06.
L Was the chemical subsequently withdrawn from the Sec 8a and 8d rules?  Indicates whether the chemical was subsequently withdrawn from EPA's final Section 8a and 8d rules, in Federal Register notices published on 9-29-06 (available at www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-TOX/2006/September/Day-29/t15959.htm) and 4-30-07 (available at www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-TOX/2007/April/Day-30/t2104.htm).
M Is the chemical covered by EPA's 3/06 final test rule?  Indicates whether the chemical is covered by EPA's final Test Rule for Unsponsored Chemicals, issued on 3/16/06, which covers 17 of the original 37 chemicals listed in the proposed test rule.
N Was the chemical covered by EPA's proposed test rule?  Indicates whether the chemical was covered under a proposed test rule issued by EPA on December 26, 2000 that, once finalized, would mandate testing by U.S. manufacturers/importers.  The proposed rule, available at 65 FR 81658, originally covered 37 chemicals, some of which subsequently were sponsored or fell below HPV production levels.
O Was the chemical listed as an orphan in EPA's 12-04 status report?  Indicates whether EPA designated the chemical as an orphan in its December 2004 report, Status and Future Directions of the High Production Volume Challenge Program.
P Was the chemical listed on the 55th ITC Report Priority Testing List?  Indicates whether the Interagency Testing Committee listed the chemical on its Priority Testing List and requested that EPA add the chemical to the TSCA section 8(a) Preliminary Assessment Information Reporting (PAIR) rule and the TSCA section 8(d) Health and Safety Data Reporting (HaSDR) rule. See the 55th ITC report for details.
Q Additional comments:  Includes, where relevant and available, EPA's basis for the orphan status designation shown in Column J.

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PREVIOUSLY UNSPONSORED CHEMICALS TAB – Explanation of Contents

A Reason for status change:  Indicates the reason why the chemical is no longer designated as unsponsored.

B

CAS Number:  CAS numbers are unique chemical identifiers comprised of between five and nine digits.  They should be used as the primary way to search for chemicals, because chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  Sort or filter by CAS number to see all commitments to a given chemical.

C

Chemical name:  Chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  For this reason, it is better to use CAS numbers as the primary way to search for chemicals.

D

Manufacturer of the chemical as of 2002, as listed in 2002 Inventory Update:  Indicates the name of the company identifying itself as manufacturing a given chemical in the non-confidential data from the 2002 Inventory Update Rule (IUR), the latest publicly available. The data source is a database file provided to Environmental Defense by EPA in June 2005 that includes a list of companies that reported producing or importing chemicals on the TSCA Inventory in the 2002 reporting cycle; these data are also available online at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-comp-chem-records.htm.  We used these data to develop the list of companies reporting unsponsored 1990 HPV chemicals included in the 2002 Inventory Update.  Multiple companies may produce a given chemical; each company identified with a chemical constitutes a separate record in this table. If no company was identified (presumably because identity was claimed as confidential business information), this is so indicated.

E Manufactured at HPV level in last (2002) reporting cycle?  Indicates whether or not the aggregate quantity of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1998 exceeded 1 million pounds.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm.  If no data were provided, this column carries a "??" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "NA" entry.   Click the sign above this column to reveal Columns I to M to the right that display the actual reported volumes for the five last reporting cycles: 2002, 1998, 1994, 1990 and 1986.
F Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 2002:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 2002.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
G Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 1998:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1998.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
H Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 1994:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1994.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
I Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 1990:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1990 (the base year for defining the list of HPV chemicals within the scope of the HPV Challenge Program).   Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
J Aggregate pounds reported manufactured in 1986:  Indicates the aggregate quantity, in pounds, of the chemical reported as being produced and imported in 1986.  Based on non-confidential information publicly reported by EPA at www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/tools/data/2002-vol.htm. If no data were provided for this year, this column carries a "no reports" entry. If the chemical is not included in EPA's database, this column shows a "chem not included" entry. K = thousand; M = million; B = billion; > = greater than.
K EPA comment:  Indicates, where relevant, EPA's basis for the change in status designation shown in Column A, including a link to the decision letter.

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ED LETTERS TAB – Explanation of Contents

A

CAS Number:  CAS numbers are unique chemical identifiers comprised of between five and nine digits.  They should be used as the primary way to search for chemicals, because chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  Sort or filter by CAS number to see all commitments to a given chemical.

B

Chemical name:  Chemicals can have more than one name (e.g., ethanol and ethyl alcohol).  For this reason, it is better to use CAS numbers as the primary way to search for chemicals.

C Company to whom our letter was sent/from whom the reply was received:  This company is the company to whom our letter was sent, or from whom the reply was received, typically either: a) the company reporting manufacturing this chemical in the publicly available 2002 TSCA Inventory Update database (or, if no company was listed for 2002, in the 1998 database); or b) the company that we determined now owns or is associated (e.g., through merger or co-venture) with such company (shown in Column S).
D Company/division associated with the company in Column D and the chemicals addressed in our letter:  This company is either: a) the company reporting manufacturing this chemical in the publicly available 2002 TSCA Inventory Update database (or, if no company was listed for 2002, in the 1998 database); or b) the company that we determined is now owned by or is associated (e.g., through merger or co-venture) with the company shown in Column R.
E Did we receive a response to our letter?  If we did receive a response, a copy of the letter (or in a few cases, email or transcribed telephone conversation) we received is available by clicking on the hyperlinked "Y" that appears in column T; if there is more than one response from the company, the second response is available by clicking on the hyperlinked "Y" that appears in column U.
A blank means no response was received, a "Late" means that the company responded only after our report was published, while a "ND" means our letter was not able to be delivered.
F The company does, or did, produce (p) or import (i) the chemical:  A "no" here means the company says it has never manufactured the chemical; if it no longer does, that is indicated in the next column. A "?" means it is not clear whether company produces or imports the chemical.
G The company does not, does no longer, or soon no longer will produce/import the chemical:   An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated. A "?" appears if the response was unclear in this regard.
H The company believes the chemical is/may be no longer HPV:  An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated.
I The company believes the chemical is exempt/not subject to program:  An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated. A "?" appears if the response was unclear in this regard. A "part" appears if the company idnicates that only part of its production is exempt/not subject to the program.
J The company believes the chemical is or could be covered by another sponsored chemical or category:  An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated.
K The company believes the chemical (or its use) is safe/does not need testing:   An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated.
L The company believes the chemical cannot/ should not be tested:  An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated.
M The company is only one of several/ a minor producer or importer:  An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated.
N The company intends to sponsor and/or provide needed data: An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated. A "?" appears if the response was unclear in this regard.
O The company wants or is willing to work with others and/or accept a test rule:   An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated.
P The company produces the chemical for another company:  An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated.
Q The company notified or made request to EPA (or plans to) regarding this chemical:   An "x" appears if the company's response has so indicated.
R Does the reason provided appear legitimate for company not to sponsor?  Indicates our judgment, based on the response letter received from company, as to whether the reason(s) given are sufficient to justify non-sponsorship.  See our report (Orphan Chemicals in the HPV Challenge: A Status Report) for more detail on the criteria we used. Y = reason(s) sufficient; N = reason(s) insufficient; ? = unclear; Sp? = one or more of the repondents indicate they intend to sponsor it or develop and submit data.
S Summary of reason(s) provided by respondent:  Our summary of the reason(s) provided by the company in its response, based on our reading of the letters available via the hyperlink(s) in Columns T and U.
T Additional comments:  Includes, where relevant and available, EPA's basis for the orphan status designation shown in Column O, including a link to the decision letter.

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CHANGES MADE IN EARLIER UPDATES   (back to top)

[Note:  Some of the hyperlinks in the earlier updates below are now out of date.]

11-30-06 update    8-23-06 update    4-3-06 update    12-20-05 Update    7-12-05 Update    3-3-05 Update    12-30-04 Update   

7-30-04 Update    6-30-04 Update    4-05-04 Update    11-24-03 Update    10-31-03 Update    9-17-03 Update    6-27-03 Update   

5-30-03 Update    4-25-03 Update

 

11-30-06 Update

8-23-06 Update

4-3-06 Update

12-20-05 Update

7-12-05 Update

3-3-05 Update

12-30-04 Update

7-30-04 Update

6-30-04 Update

4-05-04 Update

11-24-03 Update

10-31-03 Update

9-17-03 Update

6-27-03 Update

5-30-03 Update

4-25-03 Update

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 Environmental Defense  l  July 2008