EPA Draft Finds Solvent Risks in Specific Worker and Consumer Uses

The Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft review of trans-1,2-dichloroethylene, a solvent used in industrial, commercial and consumer products. The draft preliminarily finds unreasonable risk in specific exposure situations, primarily involving inhalation.

Released August 28, 2026, the draft says 19 of the evaluated conditions of use contribute to unreasonable risk for workers. Thirteen of those also contribute to risk for occupational non-users, people who work near a process or product but do not directly handle the chemical. EPA also preliminarily identified unreasonable risk for one consumer cleaner or degreaser use.

The release is not a ban, recall or immediate restriction. It is a draft assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA. EPA will take public comments, consider scientific peer-review input and then issue a final evaluation.

What chemical is under review?

Trans-1,2-dichloroethylene, identified as CASRN 156-60-5, is a colorless, highly flammable liquid used primarily as a solvent, cleaning agent, degreaser, processing aid and ingredient in some formulations. EPA’s background materials say reported production volume was between 1 million and 5 million pounds per year in the 2024 Chemical Data Reporting cycle.

The evaluation covers uses including industrial and commercial cleaning and degreasing, processing and chemical manufacturing, semiconductor-related operations, propellants and blowing agents, adhesives and sealants, lubricants and greases, refrigerants, spot cleaners and stain removers. EPA evaluates the chemical across its lifecycle, including manufacturing, processing, distribution, use and disposal.

The findings are tied to defined conditions of use and exposure scenarios. They do not mean every product containing the chemical, every semiconductor facility or every worker faces the same level of risk.

Who may face exposure?

Workers may encounter the solvent during manufacturing, processing, distribution, industrial or commercial use and disposal. Occupational non-users may be exposed in nearby work areas even when they do not directly handle the chemical.

EPA’s draft says the preliminary worker and occupational non-user findings are driven primarily by inhalation exposure. The Federal Register notice also describes potential dermal exposure routes, but EPA’s summary says it did not identify unreasonable risk from dermal exposure for workers, occupational non-users or consumers.

Consumers may encounter trans-1,2-dichloroethylene during the intended use of products such as cleaners, degreasers or propellants. The preliminary consumer finding is limited to one cleaner or degreaser use and is based on acute and intermediate non-cancer inhalation exposure.

What EPA found

EPA’s risk-evaluation page says it assessed 25 conditions of use and preliminarily found that 20 significantly contribute to unreasonable risk to human health. Nineteen conditions contribute to risk for workers, and 13 of those also contribute to risk for occupational non-users. One consumer cleaner or degreaser use contributes to the preliminary risk determination.

EPA said five conditions of use did not significantly contribute to the preliminary unreasonable-risk determination. Those included distribution in commerce, disposal, laboratory chemical use, use in semiconductor and photovoltaic processing aids, and consumer use of polymer-foam propellants.

The draft did not preliminarily identify unreasonable risk to the general population, including fenceline communities, or to the environment under the conditions evaluated. That does not mean there is no exposure or no hazard outside those scenarios. It means EPA did not make an unreasonable-risk finding for those categories in this draft analysis.

The assessment also does not establish that every person exposed to the chemical will develop a specific disease. Its conclusions concern modeled and documented exposure and hazard information under particular uses.

Why nothing changes immediately

Existing protections remain in place while EPA completes the review. Releasing the draft does not alter current safeguards, regulations or risk-management measures. The draft itself does not prohibit the chemical, require a recall or impose new controls on businesses or consumers.

Under TSCA, EPA must use the final risk evaluation to determine whether the chemical presents an unreasonable risk under its conditions of use. If the agency continues to find unreasonable risk, it could later propose risk-management measures under Section 6(a). Those measures would be a separate regulatory step, and the draft does not determine what controls EPA might ultimately propose.

What happens next?

Public comments on the draft are due October 26, 2026. The Federal Register notice identifies the EPA docket as EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0465 and explains how to submit comments through Regulations.gov.

The draft’s supporting technical documents have also gone through the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals process. EPA held a preparatory public meeting July 23, 2026, and a SACC meeting August 3-7, 2026, to discuss the technical materials supporting several draft chemical evaluations, including trans-1,2-dichloroethylene.

EPA says it will consider public comments and SACC peer-review input before issuing a final evaluation. For workers and employers involved in solvent cleaning, degreasing, chemical processing or related manufacturing, the key question is whether the preliminary findings survive that review and lead to later proposed controls. For consumers, the immediate takeaway is narrower: a product containing trans-1,2-dichloroethylene is not automatically banned or recalled because of this draft.

Sources

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