EPA Declares Saccharin No Longer a Potential Human Carcinogen

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final rule
announcing that it has removed saccharin from its lists of hazardous
substances, wastes and constituents because it “is no longer considered a
potential hazard to human health.” EPA proposed on April 22, 2010, to remove
the artificial sweetener from the lists, and apparently received no opposition
to the plan.

Commonly found in diet soft drinks, chewing gum and juice, saccharin had
been labeled a potential cancer-causing substance in the 1980s. According
to an EPA press release, however, the National Toxicology Program and the
International Agency for Research on Cancer reevaluated scientific data
on saccharin and its salts, concluding that they are not a potential human
carcinogen. EPA removed the artificial sweetener from the hazardous lists
because “the scientific basis for remaining” no longer applies. The final rule,
which is in response to a Calorie Control Council petition to remove saccharin
and its salts from the lists, is effective January 18, 2011. See EPA Press Release,
December 14, 2010; Federal Register, December 17, 2010.