How to identify substances

Since the initial TSCA Inventory was compiled in 1979, EPA has developed numerous policy statements and guidance documents on how to identify certain chemical substances for the purpose of assigning unique and unambiguous descriptions for each substance listed on the Inventory including:

• Compliance Advisory: Applicability of the Toxic Substances Control Act to Chemicals made from Petroleum and Renewable Sources Used as Fuels and Fuel Additives and Distillates
• Complex Reaction Products
• Isotopes
• Mixtures: Formulated and Statutory Mixtures 
• Monomer Acid and Derivatives (PDF) (6 pp, 184 K, About PDF) 
• Nanoscale Substances
• Polymeric Substances 
• UVCBs: Unknown or Variable Composition, Complex Reaction Products and Biological Materials 
• Varying Carbon Chain Lengths (Alkyl Ranges Using the Cx-y Notation) 

Developing generic names

New chemical submitters who assert a confidentiality claim for their submission’s specific chemical identity must include a structurally descriptive generic name for the chemical substance that the Agency may disclose to the public. EPA has developed guidance to assist companies in creating structurally descriptive generic names.  Read EPA's guidance on creating generic names for confidential chemical substance identity reporting under TSCA. This document updates guidance published previously in an appendix to the 1985 publication of the TSCA inventory (Appendix B “Generic Names for Confidential Chemical Substance Identities” in the “TSCA Inventory, 1985 Edition”).