The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 6, 2026, the availability of the final risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP), diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP). 91 Fed. Reg. 373. EPA states that it “used the best available science to prepare these final risk evaluations, and determined, based on the weight of scientific evidence, that BBP, DBP, DCHP, DEHP, and DIBP pose unreasonable risk to human health and/or the environment driven by specific conditions of use” (COU). Under TSCA, EPA must initiate risk management actions to address the unreasonable risk.
According to EPA’s December 31, 2025, press release, the COUs contributing to unreasonable risk include:
- BBP: Unreasonable risk to workers (two COUs); environmental risks (seven COUs);
- DBP: Unreasonable risk to workers (five COUs); environmental risks (one COU);
- DCHP: Unreasonable risk to workers (two COUs);
- DEHP: Unreasonable risk to workers (ten COUs); environmental risks (20 COUs); and
- DIBP: Unreasonable risk to workers (four COUs); environmental risks (seven COUs).
EPA notes that the TSCA risk evaluation process focuses specifically on uses regulated under TSCA. TSCA risk evaluations do not analyze exposures from food, food additives, food packaging, medical devices, cosmetics, and other consumer products that are under the purview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). EPA states that for the consumer uses that are part of this TSCA risk evaluation, it “found no products with exposure levels that are causing unreasonable risk to the general population. In pursuit of gold standard science, dermal modeling was enhanced based on peer review feedback and public comment, especially with the replacement of rodent data with actual human data.”
EPA will develop risk management rules to eliminate the identified unreasonable risks to workers and the environment. According to EPA, it will consult workers, businesses, labor groups, and communities to develop “targeted, practical protections that ensure worker safety and environmental protection.” EPA will evaluate personal protective equipment (PPE), engineering controls, and alternative approaches to create “effective, implementable solutions that protect those most at risk.”
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