Colgate-Palmolive has reached a US$930,000 settlement with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over violations of its chemical reporting.
This settlement resolves Colgate-Palmolive’s failures to report numerous chemical substances imported between 2016 and 2019.
These are said to have breached the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule.
The owner of Sanex and Palmolive has now certified compliance with the reporting requirements and paid the $930,000 penalty.
“EPA’s data reporting requirements are essential to protecting human health and the environment,” said EPA Region 2 Administrator Michael Martucci.
“This settlement is a great example of EPA working with a business to achieve compliance while ensuring that people have the information they need about chemicals in their communities.”
Cosmetics Business has contacted Colgate-Palmolive for comment.
The settlement follows an EPA inspection of Colgate-Palmolive’s New Jersey, US, facility, which revealed that the company had failed to report required chemical data for imports that occurred from 2016 through 2019 by the January 2021 deadline.
With EPA’s assistance, Colgate-Palmolive reported its chemical data in July 2023.
The data showed that Colgate-Palmolive had imported 47 chemicals in quantities greater than the reporting threshold and that the company had failed to meet its obligation to file a report by the deadline.
EPA worked with the company to bring it into compliance with the requirements and enter into a legal settlement.
Manufacturers and importers of large quantities of chemical substances listed on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory are required to report data on chemical manufacturing, processing, and use every four years.
EPA uses CDR data to help assess the potential human health and environmental impacts of these chemicals.
States, tribes, other agencies, and the public also can use CDR data to understand chemicals in commerce.
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