6ppd-quinone and Coho Mortality: EPA Grants Petition under TSCA to Review 6ppd from Tire Wear Particles

Coho returning to spawn in a Puget Sound creek (K. King / USFWS).

 On November 2nd, EPA granted a petition from the Yurok Tribe (OR & CA), the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (WA), and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians (WA) under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  In granting the petition, EPA is agreeing to undertake an evaluation of 6ppd under Section 6(a) of TSCA to determine whether “the manufacture, processing, distribution in commerce, use, or disposal of a chemical substance or mixture, or that any combination of such activities, presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.” 

The letter granting the petition acknowledges the hazards from 6ppd but is careful to state that it does not yet support issuing a rule under TSCA 6(a).  Instead, EPA will undertake a rulemaking proceeding to gather more information on the hazards of 6ppd. If it then determines that a TSCA Section 6(a) rule is warranted, it could limit or even prohibit the manufacturing, processing, or distribution in commerce of 6ppd.  EPA intends to issue an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in the Fall of 2024 to gather more information for making a TSCA Section 6(a) decision, with a final rule to be issued “before 2025”.