The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to establish rules to protect industrial workers from a manufacturing gas the agency found may increase cancer risk in certain workplace settings.
1,3-Butadiene is a colorless gas used in several products, ranging from car tires, adhesives, paints, vehicle maintenance products and even solid rocket fuels, according to the EPA. Following a “robust review” on a court ordered deadline, the EPA found that 1,3-butadiene posed “potential unreasonable risk” to workers inhaling the gas in 11 different industrial settings.
Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the agency will now develop rules to shield workers from the potential health risks, which according to the EPA might include reduced birthweight pregnancies, anemia, leukemia and bladder cancer. However, the EPA also found that risks are limited to specific industrial settings, as the substance does not pose “unreasonable risks” to the environment, consumers, the general public or those living near facilities that use 1,3-butadiene.
“EPA also took into account additional feedback from peer reviewers recommending that we add together the risks from bladder cancer and leukemia. This resulted in a higher overall cancer risk estimate used in the risk evaluation,” the EPA announced Wednesday. “EPA will now develop rules to protect workers from the risks we identified. This process will include meticulous consideration of health effects, exposure levels, economic impacts, and benefits of use, with extensive stakeholder engagement to ensure the resulting rules are both protective and practical.”
“In addition to evaluating workplace exposures, we also thoroughly analyzed risk to the environment, to consumers, and to the general population,” the agency announced Wednesday. “We are pleased to report that EPA did not find unreasonable risks to the environment, or for consumers or the general population, including people living near facilities.”
Only small traces of 1,3-butadiene are found in everyday products — less than 0.001% — according to the EPA.
The lengthy review process has taken 6 years and took nearly 20,000 scientific studies into consideration for 30 different cases of use, according to EPA. The EPA said that it made its determinations through “gold standard science” as well as input from the public and independent reviewers, noting that protective gear or “personal protective equipment” can help mitigate workers’ risk from the gas.
The review findings did not include any protective gear or safety equipment workers may already be using, according to the EPA.
“We will ensure the protections we put in place are workable, taking additional action if new science emerges or conditions change,” the EPA said Wednesday, noting that the rule-making process will include careful consideration of human health and analysis of economic impacts.
Notably, the agency released a first draft of its findings in December 2024, and argued that the updated review incorporating real–world facility data and refined assumptions provides a more reliable assessment of workplace risks from 1,3-butadiene.
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