Risk Management for Trichloroethylene (TCE)
Below is information on EPA actions under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to manage the unreasonable risk from trichloroethylene (TCE) and protect public health. TCE is a volatile organic compound used mostly in industrial and commercial processes. Consumer uses include cleaning and furniture care products, arts and crafts spray coatings, and automotive care products like brake cleaners, and other consumer products.
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On other pages:
- Learn how EPA manages unreasonable risks from chemicals currently on the market.
- View a list of all chemicals undergoing risk evaluation, including docket numbers and agency points of contact.
Managing Risks from TCE
In December 2024, EPA issued a final rule regulating TCE. The rule bans the manufacture (including import), processing, and distribution in commerce of TCE for all uses, with longer compliance timeframes and stringent worker protections for some processing and industrial and commercial uses until the prohibitions come into effect. The rule will protect consumers, workers, occupational non-users and bystanders from the harmful health effects of TCE. The rule was originally intended to take effect on January 16, 2025.
In June 2025, EPA further postponed until August 19, 2025, the effective date for conditions imposed on each of the TSCA section 6(g) exemptions, as described in the final TCE rule. Read the Federal Register notice.
Final risk management rule for TCE.
FACT SHEET: Regulation of TCE Under TSCA. (pdf)
COMPLIANCE GUIDE: A Guide to Complying with the 2024 TCE Regulation Under TSCA (pdf)
Prohibitions
EPA is prohibiting most uses of TCE, including
- TCE manufacture
- Processing for most commercial and all consumer products.
This will protect most people who are likely to be exposed to TCE from uses covered by TSCA, including all consumers and workers in many sectors and many communities.
Uses to be Phased Out Over a Longer Period
A limited number of uses in the workplace will be phased out over a longer period. Those uses will only continue with required stringent worker protections in place. All TCE uses with longer phaseout timeframes will have worker safety requirements, such as a Workplace Chemical Protection Plan that includes an inhalation exposure limit. The final rule sets a different inhalation exposure limit for airborne TCE than was proposed. This change was made in response to public comments to ensure the limit is feasible to implement and monitor while still reducing risk. EPA estimates that the new inhalation exposure limit would reduce long-term workplaces exposure by 97%.
Many of the TCE uses that are continuing for longer than one year occur in highly industrialized settings that can adopt EPA’s new stringent worker protections, such as use of TCE to:
- Clean parts used in aircraft and medical devices,
- Manufacture battery separators
- Manufacture refrigerants, consistent with the effort to phase down climate damaging hydrofluorocarbons under the bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing Act,
- Clean parts used in other transportation, security and defense systems.
All of these uses ultimately will be prohibited, but some of the exemptions associated with longer timeframes are necessary to avoid impacts to national security or critical infrastructure. In addition, some of the timeframes have been adjusted from the proposed rule based on public comment to allow reasonable time for transitioning to alternatives.
Cleanup Activities and Essential Lab Use
Further, to support cleanup activities at sites of past TCE contamination (e.g., Superfund sites), EPA is allowing essential laboratory use and proper disposal of TCE wastewater to continue for 50 years provided worker protections are in place, including the inhalation exposure limit set by the rule.
EPA’s final rule addresses the unreasonable risk to human health identified in its November 2020 risk evaluation for TCE, as amended by its January 2023 final revised risk determination. The risk evaluation’s unreasonable risk determination found that 52 out of 54 conditions of use EPA evaluated contributed to the unreasonable risk to health.
Opportunities for Public and Stakeholder Engagement
EPA sought and considered public comment on the risk management actions related to TCE. The public comments on the proposed rule for TCE are in the docket at EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0642 at regulations.gov.
EPA hosted a webinar on November 14, 2023, about the proposed risk management rule. View the materials from the webinar.
- View a list of all public and stakeholder engagement opportunities related to risk management.
- You can reach out to the EPA point of contact for this chemical, listed at the top, right of this page, for more information or to schedule a one-on-one meeting.
- You can also stay informed by signing for our email alerts or checking public docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0642 at www.regulations.gov.
Past Meetings, Webinars, and Other Engagement Opportunities
EPA hosted a webinar on November 14, 2023, about the proposed risk management rule. View the materials from the webinar.
EPA held two identical consultation webinars, on June 16, 2021, and July 6, 2021, to consult with communities on risk management for TCE. Materials can be found in the public docket.
On December 15, 2020, EPA held a webinar to educate stakeholders on the risk management process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the findings in the 2020 risk evaluation for TCE. View the materials for the webinar.