“On April 30, 2024, the EPA banned most industrial and commercial uses of the chemical Methylene Chloride also known dichloromethane which is a volatile, colorless liquid. Methylene Chloride is known to cause liver cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, brain cancer, cancer of the blood, cancer of the central nervous system, neurotoxicity, liver harm and even death. Since 1980, there has been 88 occupational fatalities from exposure to methylene chloride.” 1
Many industrial processes and consumer applications use methylene chloride in paint stripping, pharmaceutical manufacturing, paint remover manufacturing, and metal cleaning and degreasing. 2
The EPA's rule on April 30, 2024 will ban all consumer uses and most industrial and commercial uses and most uses of methylene chloride will phase out within two years.3 This is the right step forward to protect workers in industries known for methylene chloride exposure.
The EPA's rule on April 30, 2024 will not effect the FDA's legal residue limits of methylene chloride. Methylene chloride is permitted by the FDA to be used as a chemical solvent in extraction of caffeine from coffee, extraction of spices and extraction of hops for beer.
Take the coffee decaffeination process as an example for how methylene chloride is used as a chemical solvent. Decaffeinated coffee undergoes a caffeine extraction process either through the use of chemical solvents or water-based non-chemical process. Extracting caffeine through the use of chemical solvents can either be conducted directly or indirectly. For the direct method, the coffee beans are soaked and rinsed through a chemical solvent until the targeted amount of caffeine is removed. For the indirect method, the coffee beans soak in water releasing the caffeine into the water until the water and beans are separated. Then, the water is treated with the chemical solvent to remove the extracted caffeine from the water and the water reintroduced back to the coffee beans for absorption. Both the direct and indirect decaffeination process can leave a residue of the chemical solvent on the coffee beans and the type of caffeine extraction process (chemical solvent process or non-chemical process) is not required to be disclosed on labels.
The FDA currently permits methylene chloride residue not to exceed 10 parts per million (0.001 %) on coffee beans, 30 parts per million (0.003%) on spices and 2.2% on hops extract. 4 While the residue threshold is low, consumers may want to steer clear of any products with methylene chloride residue due to the number of health issues it is linked to cause. On December 21, 2023, a petition was submitted to the FDA requesting for solvents benzene, ethylene dichloride, methylene chloride, and trichloroethylene to be no longer permitted in food, food packaging and cosmetics. 5
You may be wondering how often is methylene chloride even used as a chemical solvent in common products? The Clean Label Project was intrigued to investigate if some of the top selling decaf coffees on the market contained traces of methylene chloride, and hired a third-party chemistry lab to test for traces of methylene chloride. The study found legal traces of methylene chloride in Amazon Fresh Decaffeinated Columbia, Café Bustelo Decaffeinated Café Molido, Gevalia Kaffee Decaffeinated House Blend, Great Value Decaffeinated Classic Roast, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Decaffeinated Breakfast Blend, Kirkland Signature Decaffeinated Dark Roast, Kroger Decaffeinated Classic, Maxwell House Decaffeinated The Original Roast, Peet's Coffee Decaffeinated House Blend, and Seattle's Best Decaffeinated Portside Blend.6
While it is a win that the EPA has banned most industrial and commercial uses and all consumer uses of methylene chloride, it is still a concern that the FDA permits this dangerous chemical in food and beverage manufacturing processes.
Source (1) Environmental Protection Agency. (2024, April 30). Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Ban on Most Uses of Methylene Chloride, Protecting Workers and Communities from Fatal Exposure. EPA. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-finalizes-ban-most-uses-methylene-chloride-protecting
Source (2) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, November 2). Methylene chloride. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/methylenechloride/default.html
Source (3) Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.-c). Risk Management for Methylene Chloride. EPA. https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-management-methylene-chloride
Source (4) CFR – Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. U.S Food and Drug Administration. (2023, December 23). https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=173.255
Source (5) Filing of Food Additive Petition From Environmental Defense Fund, et al.; Request To Amend the Food Additive Regulations To Remove the Solvents Benzene, Ethylene Dichloride, Methylene Chloride, and Trichloroethylene. Federal Register. (2024, January 11). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/01/11/2024-00411/filing-of-food-additive-petition-from-environmental-defense-fund-et-al-request-to-amend-the-food
Source (6) Are there chemicals in your decaffeinated coffee?. Clean Label Project. (2023, June 5). https://cleanlabelproject.org/are-there-chemicals-in-your-decaffeinated-coffee/
