The Environmental Protection Agency indicated that it will finalize a ban on the use of methylene chloride in paint strippers by advancing the measure to the White House Office of Management and Budget for final approval. The chemical has been linked to more than 60 deaths nationwide since 1980 and is linked to lung cancer, liver cancer, neutrotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity.
The EPA proposed banning the chemical in January 2017, determining the chemical placed consumers, workers, and bystanders at "unreasonable risk of injury." After nearly a year and a half without moving on the proposed ban, the EPA promised to finalize the ban "shortly" in May 2018.
In the time between the promise to finalize the ban and the advancement of the measure for final approval, several home improvement retailers have taken action to protect their customers from the chemical Lowe's became the first major retailer to commit to ending sales of paint strippers containing methylene chloride by the end of 2018. Retailers Home Depot, Walmart, Home Hardware, and TrueValue followed Lowe's with similar announcements. Sherwin-Willaism, PPG, and Kelly Moore Paints all disclosed in the latter half of 2018 that they would ban toxic paint strippers and discounting the sale of methylene chloride paint strippers by the end of the year.
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