Report Shows Renewed Effort Needed For Landmark Chemical Assessment Program To Succeed

(5 March 2003 —Washington, DC)  Environmental Defense today called for a renewed effort on the part of the chemical industry to honor its commitment under the High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Program to provide data needed for basic hazard assessments of industrial chemicals that are produced annually in amounts of one million pounds or more in the U.S., and to meet a 2005 deadline for informing the public of the results. 

“Far too little information is available to the public about the hazards of the most widely used chemicals in the country.  The chemical industry volunteered in 1998 to gather existing data on these high-volume chemicals, fill specific gaps in the data, and make all of this information public by 2005.  While progress has been made toward reaching that goal, our status review points to several disturbing trends that could jeopardize on-time completion of the HPV Challenge Program if not immediately addressed.  Only a redoubling of effort by chemical companies will ensure that the program delivers on its promises,” said Environmental Defense Senior Scientist Dr. Richard Denison.

Environmental Defense, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the American Chemistry Council jointly developed the framework for the HPV Challenge Program, which was launched in 1998.  Today Environmental Defense released a detailed status report reviewing progress on meeting the goals of the program, available at www.environmentaldefense.org/go/HPVchallenge.

“Because these high volume chemicals were not required to undergo toxicity testing before they hit the market, it’s as if they’ve been given a clean bill of health without an exam.  We’re counting on the chemical industry to follow through on the HPV Challenge Program and make this critical information available to the public as promised,” said John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Environmental Health program at Environmental Defense.

Under the program, more than 400 companies volunteered to sponsor 2,200 HPV chemicals, agreeing to submit plans for filling gaps in the data available for their chemicals by the end of this year.  “With less than a year to go, the promised plans for nearly half of the sponsored chemicals have yet to be submitted,” Denison said.  “More than 60 companies and consortia are more than a year late in submitting plans, contributing to a backlog of overdue plans for 325 chemicals.  And while some companies deserve kudos for submitting high-quality plans on time, other companies’ plans earned ‘F’s’, based on the grades we assigned to each plan we reviewed.  In addition, 500 ‘orphan’ HPV chemicals have yet to be sponsored at all, leaving in question how their data gaps will be filled.”

The HPV Challenge Program does not seek to comprehensively evaluate the potential health or environmental hazards of HPV chemicals, but is meant to provide a basic data set that can be used to identify those chemicals needing further scrutiny.

Of the 50 companies with at least 10 program commitments under the HPV Challenge Program, the following companies have to date met all of their commitments on time:

Of these 50 companies, the following companies rank worst, based on the percentage of their commitments that have not been met and are more than a year overdue: