US EPA publishes notice on TSCA inventory status of carbon nanotubes
Released on Friday 31st October 2008
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register a notice entitled ‘Toxic Substances Control Act Inventory Status of Carbon Nanotubes’, giving notice of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requirements potentially applicable to carbon nanotubes (CNTs).
EPA clarifies that it ‘generally considers CNTs to be chemical substances distinct from graphite or other allotropes of carbon listed on the TSCA Inventory. Many CNTs may therefore be new chemicals under TSCA section 5. Manufacturers or importers of CNTs not on the TSCA Inventory must submit a premanufacture notice (PMN) (or applicable exemption) under TSCA section 5 […]. In order to determine the TSCA Inventory status of a CNT, a manufacturer may submit to EPA a bona fide intent to manufacture or import […].’
According to the notice, some time after 1st March 2008, ‘EPA anticipates focusing its compliance monitoring efforts to determine if companies are complying with TSCA section 5 requirements for carbon nanotubes.’
Registered NIA Members can download additional legal comment and background information on the EPA ruling from the ‘Members only’-area on the NIA website (by following the link to 'Topical Briefings').
Related Links
BASF Corporation submitted to the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) (under Section 8(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)) results of ‘A Subchronic Inhalation Study in Wistar Rats with Carbon Nano Tube’. (31st October 2008)
The European Commission published a regulation (COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 987/2008). This regulation follows the EC’s decision to delete both carbon (CAS No. 7440-44-0) and graphite (CAS No. 7782-42-5) from ANNEX IV of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals), which identifies substances that are exempted from the registration, evaluation and downstream user provisions of REACH on the basis that sufficient information is known about these substances so that they are considered to cause minimum risk because of their intrinsic properties (Article 2(7)(a)). (9th October 2008)