The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has all but stopped posting online risk notices for chemicals because the employee who used to handle the task has retired, according to an article from Bloomberg Law. The agency reportedly used to regularly post data about problematic chemicals in its Chemview database, but the notices – which used to number in the hundreds annually – has dropped to just two since 2019.
Public interest groups and businesses that use the information to make health and safety decisions are frustrated by the steep falloff in the publication of data, according to the article. The EPA is not legally required to keep the website up-to-date, but reportedly plans to resume posting the information soon if resources allow. An overstretched staff could not handle the task after the employee who tended the website retired and keep up with their other required Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) duties, says the EPA. Currently, the only way to view the data immediately is to visit EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
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