EPA Finalizes Ban on PCE and TCE

Popular cleaning chemicals will be banned for consumer use and severely restricted for industrial use

On Dec. 9, the Environmental Protection Agency banned many uses of two common solvents, perchloroethylene (PCE or Perc) and trichloroethylene (TCE), as part of the agency's risk evaluation process for existing chemicals under the bipartisan 2016 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) amendments. These two rules are significant, as PCE and TCE have been two of the most commonly used degreasing solvents for a variety of industrial and commercial applications since approximately the 1950s. In addition to degreasing, PCE is also commonly used in dry cleaning, while TCE can be found in consumer and commercial products like cleaning and furniture care products, brake cleaners, sealants, lubricants, adhesives, paints and coatings, and arts and craft spray coatings. 

New EPA restrictions on use of PCE and TCE

Both chemicals will be banned in most commercial and industrial uses, although allowances have been made to provide long phase-out timeframes for certain applications.

For TCE, most commercial and consumer uses will be prohibited within one year. Longer phase-out times have been allowed in certain aerospace, naval, and laboratory uses, as well as in the manufacturing of the refrigerant hydrofluorocarbon 134a.

For PCE, a ten-year phaseout has been implemented for dry cleaning uses. The new rules require that PCE will be prohibited in newly acquired dry-cleaning machines after six months. Older machines will also be phased out but sooner than newer dry-cleaning machines. 

Controls on continuing uses of PCE

EPA has also outlined controls for continuing PCE uses under a Workplace Chemical Protection Program (WCPP). These rules are for "highly sophisticated workplaces that may be important to national security, aviation and other critical infrastructure, as well as uses that complement the agency's efforts to combat the climate crisis." According to the EPA, these uses include:

• Use in the production of other chemicals, including refrigerant chemicals that may complement efforts to phase down climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons under the bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing Act
• Use in petrochemical manufacturing
• Use in agricultural chemical manufacturing (originally proposed to be prohibited)
• Use for cold cleaning of tanker vessels (originally proposed to be prohibited)
• Use as maskant for chemical milling
• Use as a vapor degreasing solvent
• Use in adhesives and sealants
• Use in energized electrical cleaning (originally proposed to be prohibited)
• Processing into formulation, mixture, or reaction products
• Import, recycling, disposal, processing by repackaging, and domestic manufacturing of PCE

Workplaces that fall under the PCE exception have 30 months to implement the WCPP controls. EPA has also outlined monitoring requirements for any manufacturer or business that can still use PCE and has mandated that labor representatives have access to occupational exposure monitoring and records.

Many dry cleaners have already began phasing out PCE and have switched to alternative cleaning solutions like n-propyl bromide, volatile methyl siloxanes, glycol ethers, butylal, and high-flashpoint hydrocarbons. There are also many alternatives to TCE currently available for cleaning, degreasing, lubrication, etc.

EPA has made the TCE rules available on the organization's website here.

The full ruleset for PCE can be found here on the EPA website.