Contributing Editor: Starin McKeen

High Production Volume (HPV) chemicals are those produced or imported in volumes greater than 1 million pounds. Approximately 4.7% of chemicals (3,300 chemicals out of approximately 70,000) are used in such significant quantities.

There are no estimates on actual usage amounts, but between 4.4 and 7.1 trillion pounds of HPV chemicals are produced or imported annually.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) maintains a list of 5,235 HPV chemicals, including chemicals with production volumes greater than 2.2 million pounds in more than one economically developed country.

HPV chemicals are required to be reported under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Reporting of chemicals and amount range is required every four years. Polymers, inorganic substances, microorganisms, and naturally occurring organisms are not required to be reported under TSCA. Several categories of chemicals are excluded from the TSCA Inventory Update Rule (IUR), due to regulation under other statutes, including pesticides, food additives, drugs, and cosmetics. (scorecard.org)

Related Links

EPA's High Production Volume Chemical Lists http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemrtk/hpvchmlt.htm

1990 HPV Challenge Program Chemical List http://www.epa.gov/chemrtk/hpv_1990.pdf

1994 List of HPV Additions http://www.epa.gov/chemrtk/hpv_1994.pdf

1998 List of HPV Additions http://www.epa.gov/oppt/iurold/iur98/index.htm

OECD's High Production Volume Chemical List http://cs3-hq.oecd.org/scripts/hpv/