Industrial Processing and Use Data

In addition to production volume information, manufacturing (including import) sites also provide information about industrial processing and/or uses of each chemical, regardless of whether the site controls any recipient site(s). Industrial processing/use often occurs downstream of the manufacturing site, at which one or more chemicals or mixtures are manufactured or processed. However, if certain volumes of chemical(s) are reported as used on-site, certain associated processing or use scenarios with equivalent percent production volumes may occur at the manufacture or import site.

For industrial processing and use, reporters provided the following types of data expressed in the form of codes for the principal reporting year (2019):

• Type of processing and use (TPU) operation, which is used to define how chemicals are processed or used at an industrial site. There are 5 TPU operation codes.
• Industrial sector (IS), which describes the industry in which the chemical is processed or used. There are 48 IS codes, and each IS code relates to one or more NAICS codes. Note that the IS code relates to the processing or use industrial site, which is often different from the chemical manufacturing (including import) site. Sites reporting separately under CDR report a NAICS code describing the business activity of the site.
• Function, which describes the purpose of the chemical in the industrial use process. There are 35 general function categories. Note that for some chemicals, a more detailed set of 117 function categories was available for use; this more detailed set will be used for all future CDR reporting. For those chemicals for which the detailed categories were reported, EPA cross-walked the reported category with the original 35 function categories for purposes of this review. Table D-3 in the "Instructions for Reporting 2020 TSCA Chemical Data Reporting" further explains this relationship.

The unique combination of these three codes describes the industrial use of a chemical. EPA uses this information in the evaluation of potential chemical exposure scenarios in industrial settings.

Specific examples for industrial processing and use reporting can be found in Table 4-16 of the Instructions for Reporting 2020 TSCA Chemical Data Reporting.

Approximately 50 percent of the reported TPUs were for “processing for incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product.” Only 3 percent of submitters reported “not known or reasonably ascertainable.”

The table below shows the chemical count, site count, and chemical report count by the industrial sector codes reported for the 2020 CDR. The chemical manufacturing industrial sectors dominate the number of reported industrial uses with the most chemicals, sites, and reports.

Most Frequently Reported Industrial Sectors (2020 CDR)

* CDR Industrial Sectors can be cross walked to the associated NAICS code(s) using the “Instructions for Reporting 2020 TSCA Chemical Data Reporting” Table D-2.

The table below shows the chemical count, site count, and chemical report count for the function categories most frequently reported for the 2020 CDR. Intermediates and processing aids are widely reported and can be used in many different industrial sectors. An intermediate is a chemical substance that is partially or fully consumed in chemical reactions used for the intentional manufacture of other chemical substances or mixtures (40 CFR 704.3).

Most Frequently Reported Function Categories (2020 CDR)

The table below shows the chemical count, site count, and chemical report count for the most frequent unique combinations of the type of processing and use, the industrial sector, and the function from the 2020 CDR.

Most Frequently Reported Uses Based on Unique Combinations of Type of Processing and Use, Industrial Sector, and Function Categories (2020 CDR)

*Not Known or Reasonably Ascertainable.