Law Firm of Motley Rice LLC - Vinyl Chloride

As of 1974, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the EPA, and the FDA have all banned the use of vinyl chloride as an aerosol propellant. The Clean Air Act addresses vinyl chloride emissions from production and manufacturing facilities.

Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA published a water quality criteria document addressing vinyl chloride for the protection of human health. EPA also regulates vinyl chloride as a hazardous constituent of waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA established a maximum contaminant level for vinyl chloride.

The FDA eliminated the use of vinyl chloride in drug products and proposed alerting food manufacturers to the need for monitoring packaging materials that may contain it.

OSHA has established permissible exposure limits for vinyl chloride, and regulates vinyl chloride under the Hazard Communication Standard and as a chemical hazard in laboratories.

Under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, releases of more than 1 pound of vinyl chloride into the air, water, or land must be reported annually and entered into the national TRI.

The three states in which the largest amounts of vinyl chloride were released in 1989 were Texas (236,685 pounds), Louisiana (175,040 pounds), and Delaware (174,637 pounds).