Status and Future Directions of the - US Environmental Protection ...

Appendix 1: History of the Program
The HPV Challenge Program was established
in 1998 in response to several studies that
revealed how little health and environmental
effects data were publicly available for HPV chemicals.
Environmental Defense’s Toxic Ignorance 5 study in
1997 showed that, for a sample of 100 HPV chemicals,
there were relatively few U.S. HPV chemicals with
health hazard screening data. In 1998, EPA’s Chemical
Hazard Data Availability Study 6 addressed all HPV
chemicals and resulted in similar findings; specifically,
43% of high production volume chemicals had no
publicly available data on basic toxicity and only 7%
had a full set of basic data (see the figure below).
These results were subsequently supported by the
American Chemistry Council’s Public Availability of
SIDS-Related Testing Data for U.S. High Production
Volume Chemicals 7 study in 1998. This lack of data
% of HPV Chemicals
50
40
30
20
10
0
Lack of Publicly Available
Hazard Lack and of Publicly Fate Data Available
Hazard and Fate Data
42.5
13.8
Status and Future Directions
10.3 9.3 9.0 8.1 7.1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Number of Endpoints with
Publicly Available Data
inhibits the public’s ability to evaluate whether the
chemicals that may be found in their environment,
homes, workplaces, and the products that they buy are
of concern. Prior to the HPV Challenge Program,
such data were generally not available to the public.
EPA responded to this lack of data by inviting U.S.
manufacturers and importers of HPV chemicals to
voluntarily sponsor chemicals in the HPV Challenge
Program. Sponsorship entails the identification and
initial assessment of the adequacy of existing data, the
conduct of new testing only if the sponsor determines
that adequate data do not exist, and making the
new and existing data available to the public. Public
availability of data is the fundamental principle of this
program. Any new testing on the HPV chemicals in
the HPV Challenge Program is to be completed by the
end of 2004 with all data to be made available to the
public by the end of 2005.
HPV Challenge Program Design
Sponsors can participate in the HPV Challenge
Program either directly through the Program or
indirectly through the International Council of
Chemical Associations (ICCA) HPV Initiative and/
or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development’s (OECD) HPV Screening Information
Data Set (SIDS) Program. The ICCA HPV Initiative
5 Toxic Ignorance: The Continuing Absence of Basic Health Testing for Top-Selling Chemicals in the United States (1997). New York, NY: Environmental Defense Fund.
(Website: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/243_toxicignorance.pdf).
6 Chemical Hazard Data Availability Study: What Do We Really Know About the Safety of High Production Volume Chemicals? (1998). Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. (Website: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/chemrtk/hazchem.pdf).
7 Public Availability of SIDS-Related Testing Data for U.S. High Production Volume Chemicals (1998). Arlington, VA: Chemical Manufacturers Association.
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