EPA and US DHHS, Stop Funding Industry's Phony Risk Assessment of Deadly Chemicals!

  • by: Susan V
  • recipient: US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Health and Human Services

The chemical industry and US Department of Defense responded to the 70s/80s' renaissance of clean air, water and workplace regulation by starting a new field of “science” to downplay the dangers of hazardous chemicals. But most disturbing is that the EPA and other U.S. agencies have helped fund this phony research with hundreds of $millions!

These new regulatory toxicologists, says Truthout, often rely on computer simulations called "physiologically based pharmacokinetic" (PBPK) modeling." While “health effects scientists,” like epidemiologists and endocrinologists, base their conclusions on “direct observations of how chemicals actually affect living things.”

Scientists with the Department of Defense, which is one of the biggest users and storers of deadly chemicals like methylene chloride, invented PBPK modeling, says Truthout, a system that can " be manipulated to minimize the appearance of chemical risks.”

As a result of PBPK data's inclusion in the federal chemical review process, adds Truthout, “chemicals known to be harmful to human health remain largely unregulated” in the U.S- "often with deadly results." For example, in 1988, because of a PBPK assessment, the EPA backed off its regulation of methylene chloride. Other deadly chemicals whose risks were minimized and regulation delayed by PBPK include formaldehyde, tricholorethylene, BPA and the pesticide chlorpyrifos. The latter, a nerve poison, was used widely in schools until it was finally banned for indoor use in late 1999.

EPA’s job is to protect Americans and the environment from the damaging effects of toxic chemicals, not to collude with industry to downplay these hazards. Sign this petition to insist EPA and US DHHS stop supporting regulatory toxicology’s pseudoscience.

To the U.S. Envonrmental Protection Agency and Department of Health and Human Services:


We, the undersigned, say Truthout's report, combined with a recent warning by International Federation of Gynocology and Obstetrics, demand reform of EPA's regulatory process and all government agencies' support of and reliance upon industry-friendly chemcal risk assessments.


Despite the serious warning by the International Federation of Gynocology and Obstetrics (FIGO) that “We are drowning our world in untested and unsafe chemicals, and the price we are paying in terms of our reproductive health is of serious concern," Truthout says “chemical regulation in the United States has proceeded at a glacial pace. And corporate profit is at the heart of the story."


FIGO says its doctors have witnessed "first-hand the increasing numbers of health problems facing their patients, and preventing exposure to toxic chemicals can reduce this burden on women, children and families around the world,” according to a report by University of California San Franciso News Service.



And FIGO is not making a big deal over nothing, as regulatory toxicologists might claim. According to the UCSF report, strong Evidence supports a link between Prenatal exposure to these chemicals and the following adverse effects:"Miscarriage and still birth, impaired fetal growth, congenital malformations, impaired or reduced neurodevelopment and cognitive function, and an increase in cancer, attention problems, ADHD behaviors and hyperactivity are among the list of poor health outcomes linked to chemicals such as pesticides, air pollutants, plastics, solvents and more."



Even worse, adds FIGO, Chemical manufacturing is expected to expand quickly in developing countries in the next five years, with "more than 30,000 pounds of chemicals per person" manufactured or imported, and with the vast majority untested. The group says the newTransatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, is making the situation even worse by "weakening controls and regulations designed to protect communities from toxic chemicals."


Not surprisingly, the poor are disportionately affected by the expansion and lack of regluation of toxic chemicals, and they are less likely to have access to the proper care to combat or treat the effects of these exposures.


FIGO proposes "that physicians, midwives, and other reproductive health professionals advocate for policies to prevent exposure to toxic environmental chemicals; work to ensure a healthy food system for all; make environmental health part of health care; and champion environmental justice."


By supporting industry’s efforts to downplay the seriousness of the concerns FIGO emphasizes, EPA is doing anything but following FIGO’s recommendations and much worse, failing to do its job to protect humans and the environment.


We demand EPA and US DHHS stop funding risk assessment models that downplay the risks of deadly chemicals and delay their regulation to the detriment of human and environmental health.






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