EPA finalizes ban on all uses of notorious cancer-causing solvent TCE

The Biden Environmental Protection Agency today prohibited all uses of the toxic solvent trichloroethylene, or TCE. The rule is a crucial victory in efforts to tackle health harms, like cancer, that TCE exposure can cause.

The agency also banned all consumer uses of the chemical perchloroethylene, or perc, which is used for dry cleaning and automotive care products. Perc has been linked to health harms, including damage to the kidneys, liver and the immune system.

“U.S. communities large and small have tap water with potentially harmful levels of TCE, and they may not be aware of this risk,” said Tasha Stoiber, Ph.D., senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group.

TCE is a volatile organic compound primarily used in commercial and industrial processes, including as a solvent for industrial cleaning and degreasing. More than 80 percent of TCE is used to manufacture refrigerants. The widespread industrial use of TCE has resulted in significant environmental releases, contaminating drinking water supplies.

“People can be exposed to this toxic solvent at home not just by drinking TCE-contaminated water but also by inhaling it when bathing and washing dishes. The EPA’s final rule will help to finally end most uses of this dangerous chemical,” added Stoiber.

In addition to being linked to cancer, TCE can cause developmental and reproductive harms. These risks are particularly high for workers in settings where the chemical is used. But people can be exposed at TCE-contaminated sites, as well as through drinking water and other water uses at home.

TCE contamination is a problem affecting community water systems serving at least 19 million people across the U.S., EWG has found.

“The Biden EPA should be applauded for taking another important step forward in protecting the health of workers and consumers from the risks of TCE,” said Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs.

In 2023, the agency released its proposed version of the ban and invited public feedback on it. In July the EPA then sent the final version of the rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget for mandatory pre-publication review. Completing this review cleared the way for the final rule.

TCE’s toxic history

TCE has a notorious reputation and an infamous history. Many people learned about the risks of exposure to this chemical following the release of the 1995 blockbuster book and film “A Civil Action,” starring John Travolta. Together they tell the true story of a legal fight over companies contaminating an aquifer with TCE, harming the health of people living nearby.

The chemical is found in air, groundwater and soil near industrial facilities, hazardous waste sites and other locations where it was once used. People are exposed to TCE by breathing in its vapors or skin contact with it or with contaminated soil or water.

Americans concerned about the possibility of the chemical in their own drinking water can review EWG’s interactive map of TCE contamination, which is based on data from state drinking water agencies’ water system tests between 2017 and 2019. Or they can simply enter their ZIP code in EWG’s Tap Water Database.

People with TCE-contaminated drinking water can use a carbon-based filter to eliminate it, but costs vary, and some homes may need an expensive whole-house filter. Households relying on private well water should consider testing the water for contaminants to see whether it must be treated.

“Filtering water can often be a way for concerned families to reduce or remove TCE in their drinking water,” said Stoiber. “But people should not have to take on the costs of addressing years of pollution caused by industry.”

Pregnant people, infants and young children are among those most at risk from the dangers of TCE, especially decreased immune function. But the chemical has harmed people throughout the U.S., including servicemembers and their families who drank contaminated water at the military bases where they lived and worked. Former Marines have seen family members battle cancer – in some cases fatal – due to TCE exposure.

Camp Lejeune crisis

One of the worst TCE contamination cases on record in the U.S. is at North Carolina’s Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. The solvent, and other chemicals, contaminated the base’s drinking water for decades, increasing cancer risks for civilian and military personnel. The pollution wrecked lives with health harms and even deaths.

Retired Marine Corps Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger, who was stationed for many years at the base, lost his daughter Janey, in 1985, at the age of nine from leukemia after she was exposed to toxic chemicals while living there.

Ensminger since then has been an outspoken critic of the federal government’s slow response to contamination of drinking water sources with industrial chemicals, including TCE and the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.

His campaigning resulted in Congress passing the Janey Ensminger Act, which former President Barack Obama signed in 2012. The law offers affected veterans and family members extended health care and medical services for disorders that may have been caused by exposure to toxic chemicals in Camp Lejeune drinking water.

Mike Partain, a son and grandson of Marine officers, was born at Camp Lejeune. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 39. Along with Ensminger, he has for years strongly criticized the federal government’s response to the TCE crisis at the base. He has also condemned its inadequate support for servicemembers and their families harmed by exposure to the chemical and other substances throughout the U.S.

In a statement, Ensminger said, “Mike and I welcome this ban on TCE by the EPA. This is proof that our fight for justice at Camp Lejeune was not in vain.”