EPA Makes TSCA Inventory Available Online for Free

EPA celebrated Sunshine Week by putting online for free the large list of chemicals in U.S. commerce. It was a first.

Wait a minute. It was actually two firsts. EPA has never before celebrated Sunshine Week, as far as the WatchDog (who watches these things closely) knows.

The list is known as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substance Inventory. Technically, it includes about 84,000 chemicals being used in U.S. commerce. Of these, some 17,000 are kept secret because manufacturers allege that they are trade secrets. The list has been available to the public, but access was difficult, and EPA charged a fee for providing it. EPA announced on March 15, 2010, that it was putting the database (minus secret portions) online for free, so that the entire public could get easy access.

• EPA Release of March 15, 2010.
• "States Push EPA, Congress to Curb Business Confidentiality Claims for Chemicals," Greenwire, March 1, 2010, by Sara Goodman.
• "Bit by Bit, EPA Opening Up Toxics Program," OMB Watch, March 15, 2010, by Brian Turnbaugh.
• Previous Story: WatchDog of March 10, 2010.