About the Project | Milestones and Publications | Partnership Participants

About the Project

Announcements

In December 2019, EPA finalized the designation of 20 chemical substances as high-priority for risk evaluation under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Seven of the chemical substances are phthalates. Learn more about the chemicals undergoing risk evaluation under TSCA.

Background

Phthalates are used in industrial and consumer products, primarily as plasticizers in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products. They are also used in medical devices, beauty products, textiles, paints, food packaging, dental material, and paper.

Design for the Environment (DfE) is not currently pursuing an alternatives assessment for phthalates because these chemicals are included on the 2014 Update to the TSCA Work Plan and subject to the risk evaluation process required under TSCA. If at the end of the risk evaluation process, EPA determines that any of these chemicals present an unreasonable risk to health or the environment under their conditions of use, the Agency must take action to address those risks.

Top of Page

Milestones and Publications

There have been a number of efforts to understand toxicity and related issues for phthalates, including the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) on Phthalates, convened by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The DfE partnership on Alternatives to Certain Phthalates, which includes over 300 stakeholders, representing industry, manufacturing, environmental and public health advocates, other government agencies and academic researchers, recognized that expert panel determinations, such as the CHAP report, will help inform our work on the alternatives assessment.

See all publications from this partnership

*Design for the Environment (DfE) is not currently pursuing an alternatives assessment for phthalates because this group of chemicals has been added to the TSCA Work Plan based on high hazard and exposure ranking. The phthalates identified in the Work Plan will be subject to a problem formulation that may result in a risk assessment, and, if appropriate, EPA will conduct risk management at that time. The risk management may include an alternatives assessment similar to those evaluated and written by DfE to inform the public about available alternatives.

Top of Page

Partnership Participants

Academics

• Ramani Narayan, Michigan State University
• Brad Wheatley, University of Queensland

Chemical Manufacturers

• Patrick Harmon, BASF
• Robert Drake, BASF
• Gwyn Pickering, Danisco
• Kim Baskerville, Danisco
• Robert G. Folsom, Dow Chemical
• Thorne Bartlett, Dow Chemical
• Dan Bolton, Eastman Chemical
• Mark Holt, Eastman Chemical
• Brenda Hollo, Ferro
• Andrew Couch, HB Chemical
• Jeff Rand, HB Chemical
• Tanis Marquette, Momentive Specialty Chemicals
• Lee Rieth, Segetis, Inc.
• Tess Fennelly, Segetis, Inc.
• Kevin Reilly, The HallStar Company
• Damian Marshall, The HallStar Company
• Steve O'Rourke, The HallStar Company
• Chuck Bleakley, Akzo Nobel

Chemical Distributor

• Ted Fisher, ALAC International

Compounder

• David B. Kiddoo, AlphaGary Corporation
• Elliott Asay, Georgia Gulf Chemicals and Vinyls, LLC
• Stephen Horton, PolyOne
• John Macaluso, Teknor Apex

Consultants

• Anne LeBleu, Arabella Advisors
• Kelly Scanlon, Concurrent Technologies Corporation
• Susan B. Hazen, Hazen Consulting and Support Services
• Lauren Heine, Lauren Heine Group
• Steven R. Baer, PE International, Inc. & Five Winds Strategic
• Jeffrey Rezin, Rezin, Inc.
• Richard Sprague, RT Sprague Consulting
• John Butala, Toxicology Consultants
• Fred Boldt, TechPlas Consulting

NGOs

• Charlotte Brody, BlueGreen Alliance
• Ellie Collinson, Breast Cancer Fund
• Basket Tuncak, Center for International Environmental Law
• Lauren Heine, Clean Production Action
• Jennifer McPartland, Environmental Defense Fund
• Lin Kaatz Chary, Great Lakes Green Chemistry Network
• Aurora L. Sharrard, Green Building Alliance
• Tom Lent, Healthy Building Network
• Monica Becker, Monica Becker & Associates, representing Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3)
• Sarah Janssen, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Karen Miller, New York State Breast Cancer Network
• Laura Weinberg, New York State Breast Cancer Network
• Brian Penttila, Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center
• Heather Trim, People for Puget Sound
• Aida Carbo, Underwriters Laboratories
• Renee Hartstock, Underwriters Laboratories
• Alexandra Scranton, Women's Voices for the Earth

Product Manufacturers

Aerospace

• Chris Zervas, The Boeing Company

Automotive

• Bing Xu, Ford
• Jake Welland, Hyundai

Biotechnology

• Thomas Burns, Novozymes North America, Inc.
• Jeff Nordquist, Baxter Healthcare
• Rob Currie, Baxter Healthcare

Building and Construction

• Mark T. Mikkelson, Andersen Corporation
• Michelle Hunt, Andersen Corporation
• Mark Learn, Compound Development Royal Group
• Drew Ballensky, Duro-Last Roofing, Inc.
• James Krahn, Marvin Windows and Doors
• Bob Beck, Masco Corporation
• Dwayne Fuhlhage, Prosco, Inc.
• Michael Schmeida, Tremco, Inc.
• Kurt Sosinski, Tremco, Inc.
• Jessica Sanderson, USG Corporation
• Mark Franklin, Sika Sarnafil

Commercial Cleaning Products

• Daniel Daggett, Diversey

Compostable Products

• Jeffrey J. Toolan, Repurpose Compostables

Electronics and Information Technology

• Therese Deane, EMC Corporation
• Ron Mateas, Epson America, Inc.
• Cory Robertson, Hewlett-Packard
• Helen Holder, Hewlett-Packard
• Debbie Horn, IBM
• Stephen Tisdale, Intel Corporation

Fabric Manufacturer

• Emanuel Ausch, Canadian General Tower Ltd.
• Andrew Shimko, Seaman Corporation

Flooring Manufacturer

• Jeffrey Ross, Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
• Jennifer Gaalswyk, Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
• Erin Dempsey, CENTIVA
• Joe Ehrhardt, Congoleum Corporation
• Fred Seifert, Forbo Flooring Systems
• Tim Cole, Forbo Flooring Systems
• Dave Kitts, Mannington Mills
• Indi Chopra, Roppe Holding Co.
• David L. Wilkinson, Tandus Flooring, Inc.

Fire Safety Products

• Antoinette Bangs, UTC Fire and Security
• Rajesh Malkote, UTC Fire and Security

Household Products

• Martin Wolf, Seventh Generation, Inc.

Laboratory Technology

• Ravindra Ramadhar, PerkinElmer

Furniture

• Alex Mlsna, Kimball International
• Brad Miller, BIFMA International

Wall Coverings

• Marty Ernst, Versa Wall Coverings

Trade Associations

• Filipa Rio, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
• Laura Brust, American Chemistry Council
• Steve Risotto, American Chemistry Council
• Brian Graham, American Chemistry Council
• Kathleen Stanton, American Cleaning Institute
• Richard Sedlak, American Cleaning Institute
• Stacey-Ann M. Taylor, American Coatings Association
• David Panning, BIFMA International
• William Schneider, DASH Multi Corp
• Kevin Ott, Flexibile Vinyl Alliance
• Julia Rege, Global Automakers
• Chris Cleet, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)
• David L. Wagger, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI)
• Terry Peters, Plastics Industry Trade Association
• Dean Thompson, Resilient Floor Covering Institute
• Marci Kinter, Specialty Graphic Imaging Association
• Richard Krock, The Vinyl Institute
• Lynn Smith, USCAR
• Bill Hall, Venable LLP, representing Resilient Floor Covering Institute

State and Local Governments

• Hortensia Muniz, CA Department of Toxic Substances Control
• Robert Brushia, CA Department of Toxic Substances Control
• Larry Brown, King County Waste Management
• Al Innes, MN Pollution Control Agency
• Alex Stone, Washington State Department of Ecology

Partnering Federal Government Agencies and Offices

• Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Food and Drug Administration
• Department of Defense
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• Environmental Protection Agency
  • Integrated Risk Information System
  • National Center for Environmental Economics
  • Office of Children's Health Protection
  • Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
  • Toxics Release Inventory

International Observers

• Danish EPA
• Environment Canada
• Health Canada

Partnership Contacts

• Caroline Baier-Anderson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Clive Davies, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Top of Page

More information

If you would like more information, please contact saferchoice@epa.gov.