Washington State’s Unexpected Push to Ban Most Printing Inks ... Again

Editor's Note: This is a summary of a more in-depth article published on PRINTING United Alliance's website.

The Washington Department of Ecology (DoE) has reignited concerns within the printing industry by including printing inks in its latest Safer Products Report, despite previous setbacks in regulating inadvertent polychlorinated biphenyls (iPCBs) in pigments.

PRINTING United Alliance has actively opposed these efforts since 2022, successfully preventing legislation that would have banned chlorinated pigments in inks. However, a new challenge emerged in January 2024 when DoE petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to tighten iPCB limits under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The EPA denied this request in April, stating that DoE failed to provide evidence that inks contribute significantly to iPCBs or pose a health risk.

Despite this, DoE is again pushing to regulate inks, claiming that non-chlorinated alternatives exist — without offering legal justification or scientific backing. PRINTING United Alliance submitted strong opposition comments before the December 31, 2024, deadline, highlighting that DoE has neither proven the necessity of regulation nor identified viable ink alternatives.

Chlorinated pigments are critical to the printing industry, offering durability and color stability that non-chlorinated options often lack. If Washington enforces these restrictions, the impact could be severe — jeopardizing over 13,000 industry jobs, $700 million in wages, and nearly $3 billion in annual shipments. Moreover, any printing done in or shipped to Washington could be affected, creating nationwide disruptions.

PRINTING United Alliance recently published a full analysis of this issue, which you can access here.

In this article, Gary Jones, VP EHS Affairs, PRINTING United Alliance addresses environmental regulatory issues in Washington State. More information about the issues can be found at Business Excellence-EHS Affairs or reach out to Gary should you have additional questions specific to how these issues may affect your business: gjones@printing.org.     

To become a member of PRINTING United Alliance and learn more about how our subject matter experts can assist your company with services and resources such as those mentioned in this article, please contact the Alliance membership team: 888-385-3588 / membership@printing.org.