Why we’re supporting a ban on TCE

Today, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research and Policy Center submitted 10,500 comments to the EPA on a proposed ban on trichloroethylene (TCE) – a highly toxic solvent that is known to cause cancer. 

A ban on the consumer use of TCE and a phase-out of commercial uses has been a long time coming:

• The dangers of TCE first gained attention when the chemical was linked to birth defects, reproductive problems, and 21 cases of childhood leukemia in Woburn, Massachusetts, between 1969 and 1986.

• Meanwhile, the toxic solvent has polluted the drinking water of 19 million Americans, according to a recent study.

• TCE is also present at many of the nation’s worst hazardous waste dumpsites. In 2014, according to the EPA, an estimated 330,000 Americans were being exposed to TCE each year.

We’re asking the EPA to prioritize the health and safety of our families by quickly finalizing the ban on the consumer use of TCE. After all, the world doesn’t need more childhood leukemia cases, birth defects or neurological disorders. 

We’ll be better off, as will future generations, in a world without TCE.