The amount of pollutants released into the environment gradually increased between 2021 and 2023 but are a fraction of what was reported a decade ago.
According to EPA’s latest Toxics Release Inventory analysis, 3.35 billion pounds of dangerous chemicals were released or dumped in 2023. It’s roughly 2 percent higher than the 3.28 billion pounds reported in 2022 and about 10 percent higher than the 3.05 billion pounds reported in 2021.
But it’s still 21 percent lower than 2014 levels, hovering around 4 billion pounds, and the U.S. gross domestic product has increased over the same time period, the agency touted in a news release.
“With this analysis, EPA is showing how American industry continues to improve its environmental performance while growing the economy,” Nancy Beck, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in the release.
