NPE Based Nonionics on Their Way Out?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released action plans on August 18, 2010 proposing restrictions on nonyl phenol (NP) and nonyl phenol ethoxylates (NPEs), under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The action was taken as part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s previously announced commitment to strengthen and reform the government’s management of the potential health risks of various chemical products including NP and NPEs.

Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention is quoted as saying “The action plans announced today are examples of EPA’s renewed dedication to improve chemical safety to protect the health of the American people and the environment.”

EPA says it will add NP and NPE to its recently announced (December, 2009) Chemicals of Concern list of chemicals that may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health and the environment. This previously unused TSCA authority appears to signal the agency’s commitment to fully use the tools currently available, while supporting legislative reform of TSCA. NP and NPEs are used in industrial applications and consumer products, including detergents and food packaging.

On June 22, 2010 the Textile Rental Services Association, (TRSA) representing 98 percent of the industrial laundry facilities in the U.S., committed to voluntarily phase out the use of NPEs in industrial liquid detergents by Dec. 31, 2013 and industrial powder detergents by the end of 2014. It may be that EPA will use this agreement as a template to structure the phase out in other areas of application.

The status of other Alkyl Phenol Ethoxylates (APEs) such as those derived from octyl phenol is unclear at present. If you market laundry, dishwash, transportation or other detergents based on APEs you may wish to discuss alternatives with your Coast Southwest Sales Representative.