Most importantly, the Scoping Study concluded that the test for toxicity fails to consider hundreds of chemicals that cause waste to be hazardous to public health.

EPA’s regulations require use of the Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) to identify wastes that are toxic. Of the hundreds of toxic chemicals that are used by industry, only 43 are subject to the TCLP test. If none of the 43 specific chemicals are found, but other dangerous toxic chemicals are present, the waste is not considered hazardous and is sent to municipal landfills and municipal incinerators. North Carolina regulations now accept the TCLP tests.

The TCLP test fails to accurately duplicate conditions commonly found in landfills and does not accurately predict long-term mobility of organic contaminants in wastes. Further, the toxicity test only addresses the health risks from drinking water contamination. Chemicals that are toxic through inhalation or would contaminate surface waters such as persistent and bioaccumulative toxics are not covered by the TCLP. The study notes that groundwater-modeling techniques used to set the toxicity characteristic levels have changed significantly since the TCLP was promulgated and that many states use more accurate alternative tests.