Controversy over proposed limits on Caprolactam

27 Aug '11

2 min read

According to Carpet and Rug Institute Vice-President and Government Relations head Frank Hurd, California's Office of Environmental Human Health Assessment (OEHHA) recently released the third version of its Technical Support Document (TSD) on caprolactam. Surprisingly, the report referenced raw data once thought lost from the human health study conducted at the University of Heidelberg. CRI recognized and took issue with the fact that the summary tables of the data in the TSD differed significantly from the summary tables contained in the earlier published report of the study. CRI quickly pursued and obtained the raw data from OEHHA and noted some obvious discrepancies with the statistical calculation conducted by OEHHA.

After bringing these and other matters to OEHHA's attention, OEHHA afforded CRI 30 days to fully analyze and comment on the newfound data. The data is significant in that is it is being used by OEHHA as a basis to calculate an acute Reference Exposure Level (REL) for caprolactam, a key component of nylon 6, which is used in various commercial products, including carpet. CRI continues to voice serious concerns over OEHHA's proposed Chronic Reference Exposure Level (CREL) for caprolactam and is working diligently and exploring every avenue to find a way to determine a more realistic CREL. Under California's CA 01350 indoor air quality regulation, one-half the established CREL is the emission level allowed for volatile organic compounds. CA 01350 is used as the benchmark for CRI's ANSI-accredited Green Label Plus Indoor Air Quality standard.

Carpet and Rug Institute

More Carpet and Rug Institute News... More Textiles News - United States Of America...