EPA EYES VOLUNTARY 'SAFE DETERGENT' PLAN AFTER REJECTING STRICT RULES

摘要

EPA has rejected calls from a variety of groups to strengthen its water quality criteria for nonylphenol — a widely used endocrine-disrupting chemical — and instead is vowing to create a new voluntary program to encourage the development and use of safer detergents, many of which are produced using the chemical. EPA says it is developing the Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative (SDSI), "in part, because of the increasing levels of nonylphenol in certain receiving streams, which appear to correlate with increasing production and use of nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactants."