Higher and Lower Hazard Chemicals under TURA
On January 3, 2008, the Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles announced strict new reporting thresholds for certain hazardous industrial chemicals trichloroethylene (TCE), cadmium, and cadmium compounds. Companies that use at least 1,000 pounds of these chemicals annually must now report their use to the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and prepare toxics use reduction plans.
In compliance with 2006 amendments to the Massachusetts Toxic Use Reduction Act (TURA), the Administrative Council of the state TURA program voted in October to designate these three chemicals as higher hazard substances lowering reporting thresholds tenfold effective January 1, 2008.
Cadmium and its compounds are confirmed human carcinogens and pose potential reproductive hazards, while TCE is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a probable human carcinogen. The acute health effects of TCE exposure can also include dizziness, unconsciousness, irregular heart beat, brain damage and memory loss.
The policy analysis for these three chemicals can be downloaded from the following links:
The policy analysis for perchloroethylene can be downloaded from the following link:
This page updated Friday April 18 2008