The Washington Department of Ecology (DoE) has reignited concerns within the printing industry by including printing inks in its latest Safer Products Report, despite previous setbacks in regulating inadvertent polychlorinated biphenyls (iPCBs) in pigments.
PRINTING United Alliance has actively opposed these efforts since 2022, successfully preventing legislation that would have banned chlorinated pigments in inks. However, a new challenge emerged in January 2024 when DoE petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to tighten iPCB limits under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The EPA denied this request in April, stating that DoE failed to provide evidence that inks contribute significantly to iPCBs or pose a health risk.
Despite this, DoE is again pushing to regulate inks, claiming that non-chlorinated alternatives exist — without offering legal justification or scientific backing. PRINTING United Alliance submitted strong opposition comments before the December 31, 2024, deadline, highlighting that DoE has neither proven the necessity of regulation nor identified viable ink alternatives.
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