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WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Friday new limits on a lethal chemical found in paint stripping products that has been linked to more than 50 deaths since the 1980s.

Chemical safety activists called the plan a significant scaling-back of the ban that the Obama administration had proposed. In 2017 the Obama administration concluded the chemical, methylene chloride, represented an “unreasonable risk” and moved to ban it from commercial as well as consumer use.

Andrew Wheeler, the E.P.A. administrator, on Friday signed a rule that prohibits the manufacture and use of consumer products containing methylene chloride, but did not ban it for commercial use. The agency is also considering a proposal for a certification and training program for workers who use the chemical commercially.

“Families have lost loved ones in tragic and heartbreaking circumstances,” said Alexandra Dunn, the E.P.A. assistant administrator for chemical safety. “We answered the call for many affected families to ensure that no other family experience the death of someone close to them from this chemical.”