Q. My company wants to manufacture a new polymer that meets the new EPA polymer exemption criteria. We understand that we must tell EPA by January 31 of next year about the polymers that we manufacture under the exemption. All data pertaining to the polymer's compliance with the polymer exemption must be in hand before you make the first commercial run of the polymer. These various information collections focus on tens of thousands of chemicals on the TSCA Inventory, including classes of closely-related chemicals. Chemical names can be very specific and complicated, describing the location and attachment of every atom in the structure.
Chemical names can also be generic names covering several substances in a category of chemicals.
There can also be different names for the same chemical. What this means is that a common chemical name may not specifically identify a given chemical substance. CAS numbers are linked to CAS names which uniquely identify each chemical. Both the CAS name and number of a substance are important as they provide more precise definition of a chemical. EPA also uses CAS numbers to clearly identify chemicals in public data bases and information products as well as for other regulatory activities.