'It's lethal:' EPA ban most uses of toxic chemical in paint stripper

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - It smells slightly sweet, is colorless, and can cause cancer.

Methylene chloride is a liquid commonly found in paint strippers, aerosol paints, car care products and more. Now, the EPA says companies can no longer use it. WM Barr in Memphis sells products that strip paint. According to a presentation the company made for the EPA in 2017, many of their products used to contain methylene chloride. The EPA banned the sale of the chemical as a paint stripper back in 2019, and the Shelby County Health Department says no permitted facility currently uses the chemical. This new rule aims to take even more of it off the market. "Methylene chloride can be acutely lethal and sadly has caused some fatalities, particularly in occupational settings," Ingrid Feustel, the senior regulatory specialist for the EPA Pollution Prevention and Toxics Office, said. The EPA says since 1980, at least 88 people have died from severe exposure to the chemical. "The acute risks are very serious," Feustel said. "We've identified the short-term risks, so those would be the types of exposures you see in the home as well as chronic risks. In the workplace we tend to think of those folks being vulnerable to both acute and chronic risks." Feustel says the agency has been assessing the risk of methylene chloride for decades. The EPA  announced Tuesday it will ban most uses of methylene chloride to protect workers and consumers. Their findings have shown exposure can cause multiple types of cancer as well as neurotoxicity, liver harm and death. "Retailers will no longer be able to sell methylene chloride products to consumers within about a year. At the same time, manufacturers of prohibited uses have about a year to reformulate their products," Feustel said. Feustel said consumers should check product labels to see if methylene chloride is an ingredient and avoid those products. FOX13 reached out to WM Barr multiple times on Monday to find out if they still use methylene chloride, but we have not heard back.