The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its 2019 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis earlier this year, and companies across the nation are actively working to reduce their chemical footprint. Despite a minor increase in the Pacific Southwest Region, the overall release of TRI chemicals was down by 9 percent in 2019.
The TRI works to track the management of certain toxic chemicals released by industrial facilities. More than 700 chemicals are tracked across 33 categories, each of which is released - intentionally or not - as solid, liquid, or vapor. Every chemical on the list can cause damage to the environment or have adverse effects on humans, such as cancer or other health problems.