The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday restricted the use of a toxic chemical used in paint and coating strippers that has been linked to dozens of accidental deaths. But the agency stopped short of the total ban proposed by the Obama administration and pushed by some health groups, instead allowing commercial operators to keep using the chemical so long as they are trained.
Alexandra Dunn, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said the agency has determined that methylene chloride — a product that major home-improvement retailers, such as Lowe’s and Home Depot, have pulled from their shelves — presents “an unreasonable risk of injury.”
“We answered the call from many affected families to ensure that no other family experiences the death of someone close to them due to this chemical,” Dunn told reporters in a conference call.
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