{"id":6841,"date":"2017-09-06T15:45:45","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T20:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=6841"},"modified":"2024-02-12T11:01:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T16:01:59","slug":"report-widespread-exposure-to-a-risky-chemical-blessed-by-the-trump-administrations-nominee-to-head-epas-toxics-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2017\/09\/06\/report-widespread-exposure-to-a-risky-chemical-blessed-by-the-trump-administrations-nominee-to-head-epas-toxics-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Widespread exposure to a risky chemical \u201cblessed\u201d by the Trump Administration\u2019s nominee to head EPA\u2019s toxics office"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Richard Denison, Ph.D.,\u00a0<\/em>is a Lead Senior Scientist. \u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.edf.org\/blog_author\/jack-pratt\">Jack Pratt<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is\u00a0Chemicals Campaign Director<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>[Use <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/tag\/dourson\/\">this link <\/a>to see all of our posts on Dourson.]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ewg.org\/release\/hidden-carcinogen-taints-tap-water-consumer-products-nationwide\">report issued today by the Environmental Working Group<\/a> (EWG) documents that the industrial chemical 1,4-dioxane, a likely human carcinogen, is present in tap water used by nearly 90 million Americans living in 45 states.\u00a0 For more than 7 million of those people (living in 27 states), the average level of the chemical exceeds the level set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as presenting an increased risk of cancer, which is one among a number of health effects tied to the chemical.<\/p>\n<p>The solvent 1,4-dioxane is manufactured in large amounts in the U.S., with <a href=\"https:\/\/java.epa.gov\/chemview?tf=0&amp;ch=123-91-1&amp;ma=4&amp;tds=0&amp;tdl=10&amp;tas1=1&amp;tas2=asc&amp;tas3=undefined&amp;tss=&amp;modal=template&amp;modalId=90098&amp;modalSrc=4&amp;modalDetailId=&amp;modalCdr=90098\">EPA reporting a total volume in 2015 <\/a>between 1 and 10 million pounds. It is intentionally used or present in products like paints and coatings, greases, waxes, varnishes and dyes. It is also found as an impurity in many household cleaning and personal care products.<\/p>\n<p>Among the other reasons this chemical is currently notable:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It is one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca\/risk-evaluations-existing-chemicals-under-tsca#ten\">first 10 chemicals <\/a>being evaluated by EPA under the recently reformed Toxic Substances Control Act to determine whether it presents an unreasonable risk and warrants regulation. Currently there is no legal enforceable limit on the amount of the chemical allowed in drinking water.<\/li>\n<li>It is one of a number of chemicals that Michael Dourson, the Trump Administration\u2019s nominee to lead the EPA toxics office, was paid to work on by the chemical industry. <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/tag\/dourson\/\">EDF has blogged extensively<\/a> about Dourson\u2019s close ties to the chemical industry as well as earlier work he did for the tobacco industry.\u00a0 In the case of 1,4-dioxane, Dourson was hired by PPG Industries, a paints and coatings manufacturer that has released the chemical into the environment, leading to contamination of a public water supply in Ohio.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0273230014000129\">2014 paper<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2017\/08\/09\/doursons-go-to-journal-for-publishing-his-industry-funded-papers-is-well-also-industry-funded\/\">published in the industry\u2019s go-to journal<\/a>, Dourson argued for an acceptable level of 1,4-dioxane in water that was 1,000 times higher than EPA\u2019s drinking water guideline reflecting elevated risk of cancer.\u00a0 The accompanying chart from the EWG report helpfully illustrates the selective information and analysis Dourson used to derive his weaker standard.\u00a0 EWG\u2019s report notes that a review of Dourson\u2019s work by the State of Michigan rejected his work as flawed and embraced EPA\u2019s more comprehensive methodology.<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2017\/09\/06\/report-widespread-exposure-to-a-risky-chemical-blessed-by-the-trump-administrations-nominee-to-head-epas-toxics-office\/ewg-chart-dourson-v-epa-14-dioxane-levels\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6840\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6840 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/11\/files\/2017\/09\/EWG-chart-Dourson-v.-EPA-14-dioxane-levels.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"776\" height=\"620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/11\/files\/2017\/09\/EWG-chart-Dourson-v.-EPA-14-dioxane-levels.jpg 776w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/11\/files\/2017\/09\/EWG-chart-Dourson-v.-EPA-14-dioxane-levels-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/11\/files\/2017\/09\/EWG-chart-Dourson-v.-EPA-14-dioxane-levels-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/11\/files\/2017\/09\/EWG-chart-Dourson-v.-EPA-14-dioxane-levels-20x16.jpg 20w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>A Pattern of Downplaying Concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The case of 1,4-dioxane is hardly unique: Dourson\u2019s paid work for industry dates back decades, including work he did for the <a href=\"https:\/\/insideclimatenews.org\/news\/20141219\/one-stop-science-shop-has-become-favorite-industry%E2%80%94and-texas\">tobacco industry<\/a> in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As reported in <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/07\/21\/trumps-epa-chemical-safety-nominee-was-in-the-business-of-blessing-pollution\/\">The Intercept<\/a>, internal industry emails reveal that Dourson\u2019s firm had \u201ca very good reputation among the folks that are still in the business of blessing criteria.\u201d \u00a0In that case, the company in question hoped Dourson\u2019s firm could argue for a looser threshold for the chemical PFOA\u2014a toxic chemical that has polluted water supplies in West Virginia, Ohio and New York. (EWG has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ewg.org\/research\/mapping-contamination-crisis#.Wa_9jLKGPs0\">mapped contamination<\/a> from PFOA and related chemicals as well.)<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Dourson or TERA were paid for their work by more than <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2017\/07\/24\/epa-toxics-nominee-has-been-paid-by-dozens-of-companies-to-work-on-dozens-of-chemicals\/\">three dozen<\/a> companies or trade associations, involving at least three dozen different chemicals.<\/p>\n<p>Several of these chemicals, including 1,4-dioxane, are under active review by the very EPA office Dourson has been nominated to head, including trichloroethylene (TCE) and the pesticide chlorpyrifos\u2014itself, the subject of a highly controversial decision by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to reject a ban of the pesticide backed by agency scientists.<\/p>\n<p>Dourson\u2019s track record of downplaying risks posed by toxic chemicals makes it obvious why his firm was sought after by chemical makers. \u00a0What is of far greater concern is the notion that he should be entrusted with ensuring chemical safety at EPA.<\/p>\n<p>Senators representing states whose water supplies have been impacted by 1,4-dioxane, PFOA and other Dourson-endorsed chemicals should ask tough questions of this nominee. And residents of those states should urge their Senators to oppose the nomination of Michael Dourson to lead the toxics office at EPA.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Denison, Ph.D.,\u00a0is a Lead Senior Scientist. \u00a0Jack Pratt\u00a0is\u00a0Chemicals Campaign Director. [Use this link to see all of our posts on Dourson.] A report issued today by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) documents that the industrial chemical 1,4-dioxane, a likely human carcinogen, is present in tap water used by nearly 90 million Americans living in &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,44,5009,56093,114108],"tags":[91812,68],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-6841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-epa","category-policy","category-health-science","category-industry-influence","category-tsca","tag-dourson","tag-epa"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6841"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12804,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6841\/revisions\/12804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6841"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}