2010-17
January 30, 2010
For immediate release
OTTAWA - The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health and the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Environment, today released the draft screening assessment reports and risk management scopes for 14 substances assessed in Batch 8 of the Chemicals Management Plan.
" The Government has now completed draft assessments for eight of 12 batches originally identified under the Challenge component of the Chemicals Management Plan ," said Minister Aglukkaq. " We are moving quickly to protect Canadians from substances that were identified as our highest concern for health, and we continue to meet all of the commitments we made to Canadians when we launched the Chemicals Management Plan in 2006 ."
" Canada continues to be a world leader in understanding and managing a wide range of chemical substances that are of concern in the environment. We are making real progress in the assessment of high-priority substances ," said Environment Minister Jim Prentice.
Of the 14 substances assessed in this batch, two may pose a risk to human health (2-nitropropane, 2-nitrotoluene) under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) and two may pose a risk to the environment (MAPBAP acetate, DTBSBP). Although the exposure of the general population to 2-nitropropane and 2-nitrotoluene is low, the Government is proposing action so that exposure remains low.
2-nitropropane may be used in vegetable oil processing, and as a solvent in food packaging. However, it is likely no longer used in North America for these applications. It may also be used internationally as a solvent in vinyl inks, adhesives, varnishes, and in paint and varnish removers. It may also be used as a chemical intermediate which is then used in the production of pharmaceuticals and dyes and may be present in tobacco smoke. 2-nitrotoluene is primarily used in the manufacture of explosives.
Of the two substances that may pose a risk to the environment, MAPBAP acetate is used as a dye in paper while DTBSBP is mainly used as a component of some brake fluids and in the manufacture of plastics and polyurethane foams. Though human exposure to these substances is expected to be low, they have the potential to remain in the environment for a long time and DTBSBP may also accumulate in organisms and cause them harm. If the proposed conclusions are confirmed, the Government of Canada will consider options to reduce or eliminate releases to the environment from these substances.
The Government is proposing that the remaining 10 substances do not pose a risk to human health or the environment under CEPA , 1999. Four substances (1,3,5-Tribromobenzene; Tetrachloroveratrole; FAZ; and [3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl]methyl]-, monoethyl ester, calcium salt (2:1)) that are no longer used in Canada may have hazardous properties if re-introduced into the country, so the Government is proposing to add Significant New Activity (SNAc) provisions under CEPA , 1999 so that they cannot be imported, manufactured or used for any new purpose without undergoing a thorough health and environmental assessment.
Notices containing summaries of the draft screening assessment reports will be published in Canada Gazette , Part I on January 30, 2010. The complete draft screening assessments as well as risk management scope documents for all Batch 8 substances can be found on the Chemicals Management Plan website . Interested parties can submit comments on these documents until March 31, 2010.
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