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Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
Definition
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) contains information concerning waste management activities and the release of over 770 toxic chemicals by over 33,000 facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use such materials. Using this information, citizens, businesses, and governments can work together to protect the quality of their land, air and water.
Additional Info
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Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990, mandate that a publicly accessible toxic chemical database be developed and maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The TRI database includes information on:
- What chemicals were released into the local environment during the preceding year.
- How much of each chemical went into the air, water, and land in a particular year.
- How much of the chemicals were transported away from the reporting facility for disposal, treatment, recycling, or energy recovery.
- How chemical wastes were treated at the reporting facility.
- The efficiency of waste treatment.
- Pollution prevention and chemical recycling activities.
In 2021, the US EPA released an update to their online search system which, for each location, shows how chemicals are being managed by facilities in the area, information about potential health effects of the chemicals being released, and the facility's history of compliance with environmental laws. The enhancements include the demographics of the population living near the TRI facility, ethnicity, education level, and other environmental justice indicators. Additional links can be found in Further Reading below.
Books Available
NOTE: We may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links in the following list:
- "Regulation through Revelation: The Origin, Politics, and Impacts of the Toxics Release Inventory Program", Hardcover, 2005. Estimated price $48.36. Info and/or order.
- "Environmental Policy and Politics 12th Edition", Paperback, 2022, 352 pages. Estimated price $71.81. Info and/or order.
- "The Triumph of Doubt: Dark Money and the Science of Deception", Hardcover, 2020, 344 pages. Estimated price $25.39. Info and/or order.
- "Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century. 12th Ed", Paperback, 2024, 432 pages. Estimated price $60.00. Info and/or order.
SDS Relevance
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Safety Data Sheets will usually report if a compound appears in the TRI list. However, as this would appear in Section 15 (regulatory information) and that section is non-mandatory, there is no guarantee that this will actually appear on the sheet even if the material is on the TRI list. While OSHA requires the GHS format for SDS's, it lacks the statutory authority to require the data in these sections 12-15.
TRI applies to companies that utilize 25,000 pounds of the approximately 600 designated chemicals or 28 chemical categories specified in the regulations, or uses more than 10,000 pounds of any designated chemical or category. TRI information is not equivalent to an SDS, but does provide useful information for people concerned about the presence (or potential presence) of chemicals in their community or environment.
Further Reading
- Introduction and further info about TRI at the U.S. EPA.
- Factors to Consider When Using Toxics Release Inventory Data at the US EPA, now with plainer language than before.
- The 770+ toxic chemicals listed in TRI and further info about regulations and toxicity.
- Three particularly useful ways to search TRI data at the EPA include:
- TRI search by address or map
- TRI Toxics Tracker for all 23,646 TRI facilities in reporting years 2019-2021.
- An unofficial recreation of theEnvironmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool after it was removed from the EPA website.
- The US EPA has a software suite CAMEO which is used widely to plan for and respond to chemical emergencies. The CAMEO system integrates a chemical database and a method to manage the data, an air dispersion model, and a mapping capability You can learn more about CAMEO or download it in Mac or Windows format.
- Toxics Release Inventory - What is It? at Earthworks.