The Biden administration has officially determined the chemical formaldehyde poses an “unreasonable” risk to human health and should be regulated.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said this week that “formaldehyde presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health, specifically to workers and consumers.”
The agency noted that the chemical “is found nearly everywhere” and so “people are routinely exposed to formaldehyde in indoor and outdoor environments, often from more than one source at a time.”
It also said that long-term exposure to the substance can cause cancer, as well as reduced lung function and worsened asthma.
As a result, it said it would try to address the “unreasonable risk” by proposing a rule to protect workers and consumers.
“Having made that unreasonable risk determination, [the Toxic Substances Control Act] requires EPA to issue a rule that fully eliminates formaldehyde’s unreasonable risks,” Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a senior attorney at environmental group Earthjustice, told The Hill.
However, the actual rule to regulate formaldehyde will be up to the incoming Trump administration. The president-elect's first administration took a less stringent approach to chemical regulation.
Kalmuss-Katz said that because of the finding, the Trump administration will be “legally obligated to regulate formaldehyde.”
However, it is possible the administration could try to reverse the Biden-era determination.
The last Trump administration faced significant scrutiny over its handling of formaldehyde after reports that it suppressed findings linking the substance to cancer.
In response to the Biden EPA’s finding, the American Chemistry Council, a chemical industry lobbying group, stressed the importance of formaldehyde and said the determination was based on a “flawed” assessment.
“Without robust formaldehyde manufacturing in the United States, we could face increased product prices, reduced economic output, and a loss of the U.S.’s competitive edge,” the chemical industry group said.
It vowed to “engage the next Administration and safeguard access to this essential chemical building block.”
The EPA’s new determination found that 58 out of 63 uses of formaldehyde that fall under its jurisdiction include unreasonable risks. This includes uses in consumer car products, crafting supplies and leather goods.
It also said that workers in places where the chemical is used are “at the most risk”
The determination does not apply to hair straightening products — a common use of formaldehyde that receives significant public scrutiny — as this falls under the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) jurisdiction.
The FDA has indicated it would propose a rule to ban the chemical’s use in hair straightening, but it has yet to do so. At this point, it would not have time to fully implement a ban before the Trump administration takes over. An FDA spokesperson declined to comment on the rule’s timing.
Kalmuss-Katz said the Biden EPA’s determination did not go far enough to protect communities that live in areas where formaldehyde is heavily used.
“EPA correctly found that formaldehyde presents unreasonable risk to human health,” he said, but he lamented that the agency “did not find unreasonable risk to fence line communities … it will result in a rule that fails to fully address formaldehyde’s unreasonable risks and leaves too many people exposed to serious harm.”
