Under the proposal, methylene chloride would still be allowed in commercial furniture refinishing — in settings where companies can more carefully ensure it is used safely. The agency has not indicated its intentions regarding NMP, also known as N-Methylpyrrolidone, a solvent found in plastics, paints, inks, enamels, electronics, industrial and consumer cleaning products, and arts and crafts materials. Its use has been associated with miscarriages and low birth weights among women exposed to the chemical. Mr. Wynne was present in early May for a meeting at the E.P.A. headquarters with Scott Pruitt, the agency’s head, and families of two victims of recent methylene chloride deaths. The E.P.A., shortly after that meeting, said it intended to send to the White House for its review a proposed final regulation on methylene chloride, after which the agency could move to implement the ban. Nationally, some major retailers have moved more quickly than the federal government to stop selling certain products that are considered threats to public health. Target, for example, announced last year that it is moving by 2020 to sell baby care, household cleaning and beauty products without substances including phthalates, butyl-paraben and formaldehyde, even though there are no such bans on these substances in these products. Lowe’s is now making its own voluntary move, after being pressed for over a year by environmental and health groups, as well as family members of victims and several online petition drives. “This is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to bring safer, more affordable options to consumers,” a Lowe’s spokesman said Tuesday.
Lowe’s, the leading US home improvement retailer, has become the first major company in the country to announce that it will no longer sell paint strippers containing the chemicals methylene chloride and NMP, which have allegedly caused dozens of deaths through toxic fume inhalation. The move comes after a series of studies by researchers at Duke University found that exposure levels were higher than previously thought for people who used these chemicals. However, the Environmental Protection Agency has yet to enact the ban. Lowe’s has said that it will voluntarily remove 19 products containing the chemicals by the end of the year.