[CPEO-MEF] New Report Reveals History, Science, Regulation of Chemical Mixtures

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Military Waste Cleanup Program
Center for the Environment
Mt. Holyoke College

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 21, 2003

New Report Reveals History, Science, Regulation of Chemical Mixtures

South Hadley, Massachusetts --- The Military Waste Cleanup Program
(MilWaste) has issued a new report on chemical mixtures authored by
MilWaste Science Director Dr. Emily Monosson. Chemical mixtures, two
or more toxic chemicals that occur together at the same time and
place, are a key concern among communities affected by hazardous waste
contamination. The report, entitled Chemical Mixtures: A review of the
evolution of toxicology and chemical regulation from a single-chemical
approach to a science and regulatory process that must address complex
chemical mixtures, shows that toxicology, and the regulations that are
based on toxicological research, has evolved as a single-chemical
science that must be restructured to address chemical mixtures.

The report, intended for use by community members, technical advisors,
scientists, and students involved in environmental cleanup, is written
in plain English. The report can be used as a guide to assess the
treatment of mixtures in a specific risk assessment process. The
report contains six sections:

* Toxicology Basics
* A Brief History of Toxicology: The Study of Poisons – One Poison
at a Time
* The Regulation of Toxic Chemicals
* Review of EPA’s Supplementary Guidance for Conducting Health Risk
assessment of Chemical Mixtures
* Current and Future Research on Chemical Mixtures
* Summary and Conclusion: Where Do We Go From Here?

The report reviews current EPA and other guidance on chemical
mixtures, and offers recommendations for future directions in science
and regulation to deal with the complexities of chemical mixtures. One
key recommendation is for the formation of small working groups and
research funding that would expand the number of creative solutions
available for addressing chemical mixtures, including and in addition
to the current computer modeling approaches.

Dr. Emily Monosson, author of the report, holds a Ph.D. in Biochemical
Toxicology from Cornell University, and has taught as a visiting
professor at Mt. Holyoke College since 1999. Her research work
includes basic research in endocrine and reproductive disruption in
fish, the toxicology of PCBs and community-based learning. Monosson
has published extensively in toxicological journals and is co-editor
of Interconnections between Human and Ecosystem Health (Chapman &
Hall, 1996). She is a recipient of numerous grants, including NSF,
EPA, and the Hudson River Foundation.

The Military Waste Cleanup Program supports communities and scientists
in their efforts to understand technical, environmental, and human
health issues related to military and nuclear environmental cleanup.
MilWaste accomplishes its goals through research, education,
networking, and outreach activities. The Program is located at the
Center for the Environment at Mt. Holyoke College, a liberal arts
college for women located in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

The report, funded through a grant from the US Environmental
Protection Agency,  is available in pdf format on the MilWaste
website, at
<http://www.milwaste.org/publications/chemicalmixturesfinal.pdf

For further information, contact the Military Waste Cleanup Program at
413-538-3246, milwaste@milwaste.org.

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