Perchloroethylene (PCE); Rulemaking under TSCA Section 6(a)

EPA requests input on "conditions of use the Agency could contemplate subjecting to a WCPP as opposed to imposing a prohibition" (EPA 2025: p. 35859). EPA's TSCA perchloroethylene risk management rule bans consumer and many commercial uses of the chemical, while permitting some workplace uses under strict prescriptive controls. While this approach might be suitable for entities that currently do not have occupational safety and health programs, chemical risk management plans, or workplace exposure controls to limit exposure; it ignores those entities that do have such exposure controls in place, particularly those that are required to comply with and do comply with OSHA and those that follow industrial hygiene best practices recommended by NIOSH, ANSI, ASHRAE, AIHA, etc. The EPA TSCA perchloroethylene Risk Management rule also "allows certain continued uses of PCE provided that sufficient worker protections are in place to address the unreasonable risk for certain occupational conditions of use" (EPA 2024: p. 103563). EPA acknowledges that perchloroethylene can be safely used so that there is not an unreasonable risk to workers. In contemplating the management of risks to chemical exposures, AIHA encourages EPA to consider current industrial hygiene standard and best practices that are currently being used in workplaces. The AIHA Guideline Foundation has developed Principles of Good Practice (AIHA Website) that are practical, proven, and provide robust and reliable means to effectively protect workers and communities from unacceptable risks. Industrial hygiene controls (as opposed to chemical bans) and performance based regulatory actions allow flexibility, tailored implementation, and continuous improvement, while still protecting worker and community health. With this approach, companies can innovate in ventilation, closed-loop systems, monitoring, training, PPE use, etc., to ensure risk is minimized without halting operations, imposing undue costs, disrupting critical sectors or compromising operational safety and efficiency. EPA is also encouraged to strengthen the WCPP framework by aligning with relevant regulations, guidelines and standards from entities such as OSHA, NIOSH, ACGIH, and ANSI to provide clarity, consistency, and flexibility. AIHA is eager to partner with EPA, regarding the prescribed risk management actions in this and other TSCA risk evaluation and management rules, so that these actions are consistent with current industrial hygiene practices and existing regulations, guidance and standards to create clear, consistent and easy to implement actions to protect worker and community health. Finally, AIHA urges EPA to perform detailed risk assessments on workplace hazards potentially created during substitution/elimination of perchloroethylene. EPA further specifically requests comment on the ECEL of 0.14 parts per million (ppm) as an 8-hour time weighted average (8-hr TWA) "including whether the use of a different exposure limit would be more appropriate to inform risk management" (EPA 2025: p. 35859). In their request for comments, EPA also discussed two additional 8-hr TWA exposure limits of 0.5 ppm and 0.47 ppm (EPA 2025). As a point of comparison, the current ACGIH Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for perchloroethylene is 25 ppm. AIHA has been engaged in the development and maintenance of high-quality occupational exposure limits (OELs) for worker health protection for over 45 years, and can serve as a partner to EPA to share critical knowledge, experience and expertise regarding the setting of health protective OELs. The AIHA OEL Committee was formed to establish and publish health-based OELs, and has the overall mission of protecting workers and communities from occupational and environmental hazards through the application of scientific knowledge. The AIHA OEL Committee is an independent organization that is composed of health science experts that are experienced in setting OELs, using a…