Dover Chemical to pay $1.4 million for unauthorized production of chemical substances

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Dover Chemical Corp. has agreed to pay US$1.4 million in civil penalties for the unauthorized manufacture of chemical substances at its facilities in Dover, Ohio, and Hammond, Ind., in the U.S.A. The settlement resolves violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) pre-manufacture notice obligations for its production of various chlorinated paraffins. Dover Chemical produces the vast majority of the chlorinated products sold in the United States. The proposed settlement agreement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. As part of the settlement, Dover Chemical has ceased manufacturing short-chain chlorinated paraffins, which have persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) characteristics. PBTs pose a number of health risks, particularly for children, including genetic impacts, effects on the nervous system and cancer. Dover Chemical will also submit pre-manufacture notices to the EPA for various medium-chain and long-chain chlorinated paraffin products. “Assuring the safety of chemicals is one of EPA’s top priorities,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s action reinforces the need for chemical manufacturers to follow the law and protects Americans from chemicals that could be harmful to their health.” Chlorinated paraffins are a family of chemical substances with different properties depending on their carbon chain lengths and are generally identified as short, medium or long-chain. Chlorinated paraffins are used as a component of lubricants and coolants in metal cutting and metal forming operations, as a secondary plasticizer and flame retardant in plastics and as an additive in paints. Short-chain chlorinated paraffins, however, have been found to be bioaccumulative in wildlife and humans, persistent and transported globally in the environment, and toxic to aquatic animals at low concentrations. The environmental and health concerns relating to medium-chain chlorinated paraffins and long-chain chlorinated paraffins may be similar to those associated with short-chain chlorinated paraffins. (February 7, 2012)