{"id":142,"date":"2026-04-30T21:52:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/after-a-years-long-fight-epa-broadens-ban-on-deadly-chemical\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T21:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:52:17","slug":"after-a-years-long-fight-epa-broadens-ban-on-deadly-chemical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/after-a-years-long-fight-epa-broadens-ban-on-deadly-chemical\/","title":{"rendered":"After a years-long fight, EPA broadens ban on deadly chemical"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Paint<\/figure>\n

Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It can kill on the spot or years after prolonged exposure. <\/p>\n

When methylene chloride\u2019s fumes build up, the chemical switches off the brain\u2019s respiratory center, asphyxiating its victims if it doesn\u2019t trigger a heart attack first. At lower levels, the federal government says, it increases the risk of multiple types of cancer. And despite a 2019 ban keeping it out of consumer paint-stripping products, the chemical is still widely available in other items \u2014 from aerosol degreasers to sealants.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is banning methylene chloride<\/a> in all consumer uses and most workplace settings.<\/p>\n

The move is the most sweeping since a 2015 Center for Public Integrity investigation<\/a> connected dozens of deaths to the chemical and showed that experts had warned of its dangers for decades. At the time, paint strippers with methylene chloride could be bought at home-improvement stores nationwide.<\/p>\n

An initial EPA proposal to ban such uses was shelved by the Trump administration<\/a> despite more deaths. It took a sustained campaign by families of recent victims<\/a> and chemical-safety groups to turn the tide.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we moved an ocean, I really do,\u201d said Lauren Atkins, whose 31-year-old son, Joshua, died in 2018 while refinishing his bike with paint stripper. \u201cIt\u2019s a good rule. I think it could be better, I think it could have gone farther, but it\u2019s a whole lot better than what we had.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and Brian Wynne, whose brother Drew died in 2017 while refinishing the floor of his business\u2019 walk-in refrigerator, wish the government had acted more quickly. Methylene chloride deaths were recorded at least as far back as the 1940s. A 1976 medical journal piece<\/a> detailed the chemical\u2019s dangers and criticized EPA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission for not acting.<\/p>\n

In 2016, EPA put methylene chloride on a list of 10 chemicals<\/a> it intended to evaluate because of their known risks. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s look at the toxic 10 and start whittling down all of them,\u201d Wynne said. \u201cI think we can all agree that anything labeled as part of the toxic 10 shouldn\u2019t be part of our daily lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

EPA cited at least 85 deaths and long-term health dangers when it concluded that methylene chloride posed \u201cunreasonable risks.\u201d But the new restrictions are not immediate. The agency is giving businesses time to phase out certain uses and phase in protections for people who will continue to work with the chemical.  <\/p>\n

Consumer sales will be fully banned in a year under the new rule<\/a>. Most commercial and industrial uses will have to stop in two years. Exceptions include a 10-year extension for certain emergency uses by NASA.<\/p>\n

Atkins, the Wynne family and Wendy Hartley, whose 21-year-old son, Kevin, died refinishing a bathtub with a methylene chloride product in 2017, worked together for years to make that happen. They had to counter EPA resistance \u2014 top officials under the Trump administration were intent on rolling back protections<\/a>, not adding more \u2014 and overcome sustained lobbying by manufacturers. Atkins called it \u201cthe longest, hardest, probably most important fight of my life.\u201d <\/p>\n

She hopes other people will take up the torch for safety in a world awash with harmful chemicals. <\/p>\n

\u201cPersistence is key,\u201d Wynne said. \u201cThe takeaway should be: If something\u2019s not right, don\u2019t be afraid to raise your voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post After a years-long fight, EPA broadens ban on deadly chemical<\/a> appeared first on Center for Public Integrity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\nPublic Integrity seeks to counter the corrosive effects of inequality by holding powerful interests accountable and equipping the public with knowledge to drive change. We are an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization dedicated to investigating systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality.\n<\/p>\n

\nClick Here to ass free resources<\/a> from The Center for Public Integrity.\n<\/p>\n

\nLink to After a years-long fight, EPA broadens ban on deadly chemical<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: 2 minutes It can kill on the spot or years after prolonged exposure.  When methylene chloride\u2019s fumes build up, the chemical switches off the brain\u2019s respiratory center, asphyxiating its victims if it doesn\u2019t trigger a heart attack first. At lower levels, the federal government says, it increases the risk of multiple types of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13],"class_list":["type-post","category-news","tag-center-for-public-integrity","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}