Top 20 Hazardous Substances

The toxic top 20 are listed below from the CERCLA 275 hazardous substance list of 2005. CERCLA is an acronym of Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and liability Act first of 1980 and is a US law created to clean up waste sites dumped with hazardous waste. For the complete list you can contact CERCLA direct. ATSDR and EPA periodically revise the list and include any new substances classed as hazardous fulfilling the conditions required by CERCLA and any alterations are amended accordingly and published every 2 years and revised annually.

Information regarding the 275 substances can be accessed online at www.atsdr.cdc.gov

The toxic top 20 list below are listed in order of rank as of the 2005 list!

1. Arsenic
2. Lead
3. Mercury
4. Vinyl chloride
5. Polychlorinated biphenyls
6. Benzine
7. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
8. Cadmium
9. Benzop (A) pyrene
10. Benzo (B) fluoranthene
11. Chloroform
12. DDT, P,P
13. Aroclor 1254
14. Aroclor 1260
15. Dibenzo (A,H) anthracine
16. Trichloroethylene
17. Dieldrin
18. Chromium
19. Phosphorus, white
20. DDE, P,P

The ATSDR has various publications available with information regarding health concerns brought to ahead by public community groups and give more in depth information on each substance. Each substance has a direct link from the ATSDR website. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32 Atlanta, GA 30333