[CPEO-BIF] "EPA science panel plows ahead with [TCE] review, despite coronavirus crisis"

Despite the disruptions of the COVID-19 crisis, the Environmental Protection Agency has moved forward with a four-day scientific peer review of the agency’s evaluation of an extremely toxic chemical. The peer review process is a required step before the agency makes any decisions about whether and how to regulate the common solvent linked to cancer, immune disorders and fetal heart defects.

Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting previously reported that the EPA’s risk evaluation of the chemical, trichloroethylene, or TCE, was heavily altered by the White House. The draft evaluation by EPA scientists, years in the making, had set unsafe exposure levels based on the risk to fetal hearts, because even trace amounts of TCE can cause potentially lethal abnormalities. After White House edits, the draft swapped in a higher benchmark, based on levels at which TCE can trigger immunosuppression.

The White House interference extended to major rewrites of the instructions for the group of scientists convening this week, according to a document obtained by Reveal.

…

For the entire article, see
https://www.revealnews.org/article/epa-science-panel-plows-ahead-with-toxic-chemicals-review-despite-coronavirus-crisis/