Obscure Family of Toxic Chemicals Become EPA Priority

"An obscure family of chemicals -- important to the metalworking industry but virtually unknown to the public -- is suddenly the subject of scrutiny from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The chemicals, called short-chain chlorinated paraffins, persist in the environment, accumulate in human breast milk, can kill small aquatic creatures and travel to remote regions of the globe. Since their introduction in the 1930s, they have received little attention from U.S. authorities. But now the EPA, in an unprecedented move, has placed the compounds, known as SCCPs, on a short list of worrisome chemicals that the agency may regulate because of the risks they pose to wildlife and the environment."

Ferris Jabr reports for Environmental Health News May 17, 2010.