Latest Toxic Release Inventory released by EPA

A long-term downward trend of toxic chemical release was bucked in 2009, mostly due to changes in the metal mining sector, according to a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The findings were detailed in the EPA’s 25th annual Toxic Release Inventory – a yearly compilation of the release and disposal of more than 650 chemicals from U.S. facilities. A decrease in the use of chemicals, as well as an increase recycling and treatment of chemicals were cited as factors behind the 30% drop in releases from 2001-2010.

The TRI grew out of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, passed in 1986 in the shadow of chemical release disasters in Bhopal, India and West Virginia.

The full text of the report can be downloaded at the EPA’s website for the Toxic Release Inventory.

Image credit: globe-net.com