{"id":3880,"date":"2014-08-08T10:07:23","date_gmt":"2014-08-08T15:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=3880"},"modified":"2024-02-12T11:01:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T16:01:36","slug":"twice-in-2-weeks-national-academy-of-sciences-again-strongly-affirms-federal-governments-science-agrees-formaldehyde-is-a-known-human-carcinogen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2014\/08\/08\/twice-in-2-weeks-national-academy-of-sciences-again-strongly-affirms-federal-governments-science-agrees-formaldehyde-is-a-known-human-carcinogen\/","title":{"rendered":"Twice in 2 weeks: National Academy of Sciences again strongly affirms federal government\u2019s science, agrees formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Denison, Ph.D.<\/em>,<\/em> is a Lead Senior Scientist.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Just last week <\/span>I blogged<\/span><\/a> that a <\/span>panel of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)<\/span><\/a> had fully backed the National Toxicology Program\u2019s (NTP) listing of styrene as \u201creasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Today <\/span>a separate NAS panel<\/span><\/a> strongly endorsed NTP\u2019s listing of formaldehyde as a \u201cknown human carcinogen\u201d in its <\/span>12th Report on Carcinogens<\/span><\/a> (RoC).\u00a0 As with styrene, this second NAS panel both peer-reviewed the RoC listing and conducted its own independent review of the formaldehyde literature \u2013 and in both cases found strong evidence to support NTP\u2019s listing.\u00a0 See the NAS press release <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>, which links to the full report.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Recall that both of these NAS reviews were compelled by a rider slipped into the <\/span>Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012<\/span><\/a> by allies of the chemical industry, without any debate.\u00a0 The rider was one front in the industry\u2019s <\/span><\/span>all-out war<\/span><\/a> to defend formaldehyde and styrene, two of its <\/span>biggest cash cows<\/span><\/a>, which also included an effort to <\/span>cut off funding for the RoC<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While the industry bought itself some time, the NAS formaldehyde panel\u2019s review of NTP\u2019s listing affirmed both NTP\u2019s conclusion and the <\/span>rigor of NTP\u2019s scientific review<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 The <\/span>panel\u2019s report<\/span><\/a> notes (page 8):<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The committee concludes that NTP comprehensively considered available evidence and applied the listing criteria appropriately in reaching its conclusion. The 12th RoC states that \u201cformaldehyde is known to be a human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from studies in humans and supporting data on mechanisms of carcinogenesis.\u201d The committee agrees with NTP\u2019s conclusion, which is based on evidence published by June 10, 2011, that formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And based on its own independent assessment of the literature, the NAS panel concluded (page 13, emphases added):<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n