Box store retailers knew about this stuff in 2018. NMP & methylene chloride paint strippers implicated in “dozens of accidental deaths”.
It’s astonishing how far behind the EPA is in meaningfully regulating hazardous chemicals.
They’ve learned next to nothing since PFOA and PFAS.
Apytele@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The article doesn’t really talk much about what it’s actually for, so I’ll do my best to summarize the high points of the Wikipedia Article. From what I’m gathering it’s a really good solvent that can dissolve a looot of different things including both polar and nonpolar substances like oil and water (if I’m reading right, my chem is a bit rusty) and doesn’t catch fire easily (or whatever else “low volatility” means, my second guess is that means it doesn’t let off a lot of fumes). When it’s used pharmaceutically its to help transdermal creams and patches absorb through the skin.
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
“volatile” just means something evaporates quickly. On the other hand,
EleventhHour@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s bad
Bustedknuckles@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
We use a lot of this stuff in our research lab, and have pretty strict chemical hygiene protocols for it. EU is restricting NMP too, so we’re keeping an eye on regulations. It’s definitely hard to replace as it’s a great solvent, but I agree with the EPA that it shouldn’t be in consumer goods
Apytele@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Wait a minute I’ve just realized like 6 months back maybe my work changed how we get rid of certain medication patches (it’s a different special bin now with a different color lid). Was this why???