EPA Will Reconsider Carbon Tetrachloride Rule, Including Exposure Limit

EPA announced on Friday that it will reconsider its final risk management rule for the solvent carbon tetrachloride. The rule was published in December 2024 and put in place an existing chemical exposure limit (ECEL) for carbon tetrachloride of 0.03 ppm, an action level of 0.02 ppm, and other risk management measures. The ECEL is among the aspects of the rule that EPA intends to reconsider through notice-and-comment rulemaking “to ensure that the rule is implementable to protect workers consistent with statutory requirements,” according to an agency news release.

The rule is the subject of several legal challenges, and EPA says it has requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit hold the cases in abeyance, or temporary suspension of activity, while the rule is under reconsideration.

Carbon tetrachloride has been banned in consumer products since 1970, and many uses were phased out in the 1990s as required by the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. But the chemical is still used in the production of refrigerants, aerosol propellants, and foam-blowing agents. The current version of EPA’s risk management rule allows carbon tetrachloride to continue to be used in vinyl chloride manufacturing, re-packaging as a laboratory chemical, as a processing aid in the manufacture of agricultural products, and other uses, but requires employers to follow a workplace chemical protection plan described in the regulation. High exposure to carbon tetrachloride can damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

EPA’s first step in reconsidering the rule will be to open a comment period about it in the coming weeks.

For more information, see the agency’s news release and visit its webpage on risk management for carbon tetrachloride.