Introduction

In 1998, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced a voluntary data collection effort called the High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Program under which industry agreed to provide health and environmental information on the chemicals they manufacture in amounts over one-million pounds per year. Approximately 400 petroleum-related substances were included in the Program. The petroleum industry formed the Petroleum HPV Testing Group, managed by the American Petroleum Institute (API), to compile the available data including previously unpublished information from company sources, conduct any necessary testing, and provide the results to the EPA and the general public. The results of those efforts can be found at a website maintained by the API (www.petroleumhpv.org).