U.S. National Priorities List of Toxic Chemicals is Being Upgraded

08/12/2007

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising the Priority List of Hazardous Substances. This list includes substances most commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL) which have been determined to be of greatest concern to public health at or around these NPL hazardous wastes.

The EPA has developed and is making available a revised National Priority List of 275 Hazardous Substances, based on the most recent scientific information available to the ATSDR and EPA. Each substance on the priority list is a candidate to become the subject of a toxicological profile prepared by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and subsequently a candidate for the identification of priority data needs.

A total of 815 candidate substances were ranked with the current algorithm. Of these candidates, the 275 substances on the priority list may become the subject of toxicological profiles in the future. The top 25 substances on the 1999 Priority List of Hazardous Substances in order of priority are:

• Aldrin

• Aroclor 1254

• Arsenic

• Benzene

• Benzidine

• Benzo(A)Pyrene

• Benzo(B) Fluoranthene

• Cadmium

• Chlordane

• Chloroform

• Chromium

• DDE

• DDT

• Dibenzo(A,H)Anthracene Dieldrin

• Hexachlorobutadiene

• Hexavalent

• Lead

• Mercury

• P,P'- Aroclor 1260

• P,P'-Creosote

• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB's)

• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH's)

• Trichloroethylene (TCE)

• Vinyl Chloride

Go to U.S. EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/ and go to the ATSDR website at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/