"PCBTF is on a list of “green” compounds preferred by the EPA, even though there is ample evidence that it causes cancer."
"In December 2019, a toxicologist at the Environmental Protection Agency was tasked with assessing a product that was about to be introduced to the market. As is often the case, the single product — a paint — contained several individual chemicals. One of them, a solvent known as parachlorobenzotrifluoride, or PCBTF, made up half of the product’s weight. There was ample evidence that PCBTF causes cancer. But after the toxicologist included the information in his report, a senior leader in the division removed it, according to documents EPA whistleblowers shared with The Intercept and submitted to the EPA inspector general. The deletion left the public with no way to know this widely used chemical was a carcinogen.
While the assessor worked in the EPA’s New Chemicals division, and the particular paint he was assessing was new, PCBTF is not. The most widely used solvent in the coatings and adhesives industry, PCBTF has been added to products since the 1960s and can be found in ink, caulk, cleaners, stain removal products, polyurethane finishes, primer, graffiti remover, paint for cars, steel and concrete, and garage floors. The chemical has also been used to make other chemicals, including dyes, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides. Each year, between 10 and 50 million pounds of PCBTF are used in the U.S., according to the most recent data from the EPA, and countless workers are exposed at both paint and car manufacturing plants."
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