EPA and White House Sought to Obstruct Chemical Pollution Study

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the White House attempted to block the publication of a federal health study related to water-contamination in several states across the country. According to a report by Politico, EPA aides intervened after a White House official warned that the study would cause a “potential public relations nightmare.” The study in question was an assessment of a group of toxic chemicals that have contaminated water supplies near military bases, chemical plants, and other sites in several states, including New York, Michigan, and West Virginia. The assessment finds that the chemicals jeopardize public health at lower levels than the levels previously deemed safe by the EPA. The chemicals under focus in the study, called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are used in Teflon and firefighting foam and have been associated with thyroid defects, liver damage, weakened immune systems, pregnancy and developmental problems, and some cancers, even at low levels of exposure. The Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) was preparing to publish the study when the EPA and White House intervened. The intervention was revealed in emails obtained by the Union for Concerned Scientists. In an email dated January 30, 2018, a White House aide wrote, “The public, media, and Congressional reaction to these numbers is going to be huge.” He added, “The impact to...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news