US labs could get more time to meet EPA’s methylene chloride rule

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 20 proposed to extend the deadline for laboratories to comply with its methylene chloride rule by 18 months. The rule, finalized in May 2024, bans nearly all uses of methylene chloride, a popular solvent that has been linked to adverse health effects and 85 workplace and consumer deaths. The regulation carves out an exception for the solvent’s use as a laboratory chemical. But it requires all nonfederal labs still using the compound to implement strict workplace safety measures between May and October of this year. The first deadline, which passed on May 5, requires labs to measure workers’ initial exposure levels. Under the May 20 proposal, labs would instead need to implement these requirements between November 2026 and May 2027.Shortly after the initial rule was finalized, several lab safety professionals told C&EN that the short timeline could pose considerable challenges, particularly to smaller institutions with fewer resources. In its announcement of the possible extension, the EPA says it heard similar concerns from labs associated with universities and local governments. “EPA’s proposal would avoid disrupting important environmental monitoring and associated activities, while these non-federal labs work to comply with the rule’s new requirements,” the agency says.According to the EPA, the current compliance deadlines will remain in effect until the proposal is finalized, but enforcing them will be a low priority for the agency.For Kristi Ohr, assistant director of academic safety at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the possible extension doesn’t make much of