![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Potential Chemical Risks to Children
More on Managing Existing Chemicals
- HPV Challenge Program
- HPVIS - Making HPV Available Online
- Inventory Update Reporting
- ChAMP
- Chemical Nanoscale Materials
- Managing Potential PFOA Risks
- Potential Chemical Risks to Children
- Section 21 Petitions
- Using TSCA Section 8(e)
- TSCA Section 12(b) Export Notifications
- International Work
- SAICM
- OECD HPV Chemicals Program
Strategic Plan
EPA, in its Strategic Plan, committed to completing data needs documents for 10 of these chemicals by the end of 2007; 12 were completed by December 2007.
Developed through a public stakeholder process, the Voluntary Children's Chemical Evaluation Program (VCCEP) is helping the public better understand the potential health risks to children associated with certain chemical exposures.
VCCEP is a three-tiered assessment program designed to fully evaluate hazards, exposures and risks of chemicals to children and to develop information needed to adequately assess the risks to children. Under VCCEP, EPA collects three tiers of increasingly detailed information on a chemical's toxicity and exposure and resulting potential risk to children.
So far EPA has asked companies to volunteer to sponsor their chemical(s) for Tier 1. After completing the evaluation of some Tier 1 chemical assessments, EPA asked companies to volunteer to sponsor higher tier testing for several chemicals. VCCEP is more an information collection program than a testing program. Rigorous chemical selection criteria were used to identify 23 chemicals for the pilot program. Companies have agreed to sponsor 20 of the 23 chemicals in the pilot.
Similar to the HPV Challenge Program, the goal of VCCEP is to make data publicly available. The implementation process builds on and models the HPV Challenge Program whenever possible.
Accomplishments
- When VCCEP was announced as a new program in December 2000, EPA committed to conducting an evaluation of the pilot program approximately mid-way in its implementation. In 2007, EPA compiled and summarized the responses to its 2006 Request for Comment on the Implementation of the VCCEP pilot, which was published in the Federal Register.
A summary of the comments (PDF) (45pp, 346KB, About PDF) was made available on the VCCEP Web site along with the options EPA is considering on future changes to VCCEP, which focus on enabling VCCEP to operate more rapidly and efficiently to meet its goals. Adapting the VCCEP approach for the further evaluation of other HPV chemicals was also explored.
- From January 2007 through June 2008, EPA issued Data Needs Decisions for seven chemicals -- n-dodecane, undecane, decane, benzene, m-xylene, o-xylene, and toluene -- identifying whether additional hazard and/or exposure information were needed to adequately assess the potential risks to children and, where relevant, prospective parents.
In its Data Needs Decisions, EPA determined that additional information was needed for four of the seven chemicals -- benzene, m-xylene, o-xylene, and toluene. By the end of 2007, the consortium of companies sponsoring benzene, the xylenes, and toluene declined to conduct the requested upper tier tests for benzene. EPA is still awaiting the consortium’s decision on whether to sponsor upper tier tests for m-xylene and o-xylene and whether to provide additional occupational and general population exposure information on toluene.
For the other three chemicals -- n-dodecane, undecane, and decane -- EPA concluded that upper tier tests were not needed.
- In 2007, chemical sponsors submitted a Tier 1 chemical assessment for one chemical -- p-dioxane -- totaling 15 chemical assessments received out of the 20 chemicals.
- In 2007, the sponsors of five chemicals committed to provide additional information (not new testing) to address transparency and uncertainty issues and to complete their assessments.
- Sponsors of decabromodiphenyl ether committed to provide additional information on environmental fate and transport and on the chemical’s breakdown products to complete their Tier 2 assessment.
- Sponsors of decane, undecane, and n-dodecane committed to provide additional information on environmental fate and transport to address transparency and uncertainty issues.
- Sponsors of benzene committed to provide additional information on exposure and fate to complete their Tier 1 assessment.
- In 2007, Toxicology for Excellence in Risk Assessment (TERA) -- a third party organization that organizes and facilitates peer consultation meetings to evaluate VCCEP chemical assessments -- held peer consultations for two more chemicals -- p-dioxane and ethylbenzene -- and wrote summary reports of meetings for three -- toluene, p-dioxane, and ethylbenzene.
- In May 2008, EPA terminated sponsorship of decabromodiphenyl ether in VCCEP because necessary Tier 2 data were not provided.
Read more information on the Voluntary Children's Chemical Evaluation Program (VCCEP).