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OCTOBER 22, 2009: MARKEY TO OMB: DON’T TIE EPA’S HANDS
In Letter to Orszag, Lawmaker questions decision to Not Require Additional Testing on Effects of Dangerous Chemicals
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, today sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, questioning the OMB’s instruction that EPA use existing and possibly inadequate data provided by chemical companies instead of performing all or some of the tests necessary to identify chemicals that can damage the human endocrine system.
“I am greatly concerned that OMB’s action in this matter may tie EPA’s
hands by requiring it to ignore the basic biology as well as emerging
science behind endocrine disruptors, which could cause it to miss
important opportunities for advancing our scientific understanding of
endocrine disruptors,” Chairman Markey said.
The EPA was instructed by Congress in 1996 to develop a screening
program to test chemicals for endocrine disrupting effects. However,
this Endocrine Disrupting Screening Program is only now finally getting
off the ground 13 years after the legislation creating in was enacted
into law. The purpose of the program is to identify chemicals that can
interfere with hormonal regulation of the body, potentially leading to
reproductive problems.
On October 2, in response to EPA’s request to begin collecting the
information needed to assess these chemicals, OMB instructed EPA to
accept “existing data” and other scientifically relevant information
(OSRI) supplied by companies that manufacture these chemicals “in lieu
of performing all or some” of the tests necessary to identify chemicals
that have endocrine disrupting properties. However, traditional
toxicological tests are typically designed to demonstrate whether there
exists a high dose of a particular chemical that can be shown to cause
acute health effects. By contrast, endocrine disruptors are known to
cause adverse effects at much lower doses over sustained periods of
time.
“OMB’s directive may have the unintended consequence of preventing EPA
from obtaining the very information it needs to make informed
decisions,” said Rep. Markey in his letter.
The Markey letter also noted that of the roughly 87,000 chemicals
produced today, we know very little about the effect they may have on
our hormonal systems and given the rise in thyroid disorders,
infertility, juvenile diabetes breast and testicular cancer “it seems
clear that there is a compelling public policy interest in empowering
the EPA to collect the data needed” to assess the risk associated with
these chemicals so that they can be appropriately regulated.
In the letter, Chairman Markey raised several questions related to
OMB’s suggestion to use existing data to satisfy the requirements for
EDSP screening.
A full copy of the letter can be found here http://markey.house.gov/docs/letteromb102209.pdf
