Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Some time back, I promised a look at whether Canada’s Chemical Management Plan provides a model for TSCA reform. This post will provide that look. Bottom line: While our neighbor to the north has undertaken and accomplished a great deal over the past decade, it has done so with one hand tied behind its back. Read More
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
In earlier posts (here and here), I discussed a notice EPA had received in July of 2008 from BASF reporting toxic effects at very low doses of a carbon nanotube (CNT) observed in a 90-day rat inhalation study. In that notice, BASF had declared the specific identity of its CNT to be confidential business information, hence denying that information to the public. Now, in a setting more to its liking, it appears the company has decided to reveal the identity after all. Read More
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
It probably goes without saying that EDF welcomes EPA’s decision to suspend the development and posting of risk-based prioritizations under its Chemical Assessment and Mangement Program (ChAMP). EDF has been arguing (see our earlier posts) that ChAMP’s “rush to risk” has taken EPA badly off-track. But we have also identified many useful things that EPA’s existing chemicals program can and should be doing with the data it obtained through the HPV Challenge (whether called ChAMP or not) .
We look forward to working with EPA to craft a new approach, grounded in a return to developing scientifically defensible hazard, not risk, characterizations and transparently identifying and addressing data gaps and data quality problems.
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist and Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Many of the screening-level hazard data being collected and analyzed under ChAMP that pertain to human health are derived from traditional laboratory animal studies. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently offered a “new paradigm for toxicity testing” in its 2008 report Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: a Vision and a Strategy. Can ChAMP hazard data be used to facilitate the development of new testing strategies? Read More
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
This new post serves as a response to Charlie Auer’s most recent comment responding to our critique of ChAMP. (To see the whole exchange, start here, then go here, here and here.) So far, this exchange has focused mainly on our disagreement over whether or not EPA is somehow required to do risk assessments under ChAMP. At some point, I hope Charlie and others will engage on the substance of our critique – the serious concerns we’ve raised about the quality and validity of the ChAMP assessments.
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Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
[Note: This post was originally posted as a comment on Gina Solomon’s blog post on Huffington Post. The context is a pending budget proposal from the Governor’s office in California to eliminate the State’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) under CalEPA and disperse some but not all of its functions to other agencies. This proposal, if implemented, would in my view be truly tragic. If you agree, make your voice heard!] Read More
