(ACA) On Aug.28, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) proposed listing paint and varnish strippers and graffiti removers containing 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as Priority Products under its Safer Consumer Products Regulations. DTSC issued a Draft Product-Chemical Profile, which describes the information upon which it relied in making the determination that this product-chemical combination meets the identification and prioritization factors outlined for the Regulations: (1) there is potential for human and other organism exposure to NMP in paint and varnish strippers and graffiti removers; and (2) the exposure has the potential to contribute to or cause significant or widespread adverse impacts. Comments on the draft profile are due to DTSC by Oct. 1 via a portal at CalSAFER.
If listed as a priority product, companies must comply with requirements for reporting and identifying alternatives pursuant to the SCP regulations.
The California Safer Consumer Products Regulations were finalized in October 2013. The first category of products listed in July 2017 is children's foam-padded sleeping products containing certain flame retardants. The second category, spray polyurethane foam with unreacted MDI, was just listed in July 2018. Since no one manufactures the sleeping products and the spray polyurethane foam listing is brand new, no business has implement the voluminous analysis required by the regulations. The other two product categories, carpets and rugs with PFAS and laundry detergents with NPE, are still in the proposal phase.
Paint and varnish stripper products containing 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) are proposed as the fifth category of products to be regulated as a "Priority Product" under the California Safer Consumer Product Regulations.
DTSC will be hosting a public workshop to summarize the draft profile on Sept. 18, 2018 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (PT) in Room 550 in the Cal EPA building. The hearing will be broadcast via webinar, as well, but participants must pre-register by clicking here.
Notably, exact data about amount of paint strippers with NMP sold in California is not available. A survey shows methylene chloride paint strippers are more commonly sold, but a number of paint strippers also use NMP as a methylene chloride substitute. NMP is a HPV (High Production Volume) chemical according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with 194.7 million pounds manufactured or imported in the United States in 2012.
Read full at: https://www.paint.org/dtsc-nmp/
