{"id":8508,"date":"2019-02-14T10:35:48","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T15:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=8508"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:27:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T19:27:00","slug":"the-trump-epas-actions-on-formaldehyde-can-be-summed-up-in-one-word-corrupt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2019\/02\/14\/the-trump-epas-actions-on-formaldehyde-can-be-summed-up-in-one-word-corrupt\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trump EPA\u2019s actions on formaldehyde can be summed up in one word: Corrupt"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Today, Heidi Vogt at the Wall Street Journal reported <\/a><\/em>on the systematic efforts by the Trump Administration to derail chemical assessments under the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[pullquote]Decisions are being made as I write by conflicted EPA political appointees, not only to derail the beleaguered IRIS assessment for the carcinogen formaldehyde, but to transfer any further assessment of the chemical to be under the control of those same political appointees.<\/strong><\/em>[\/pullquote]<\/p>\n

The WSJ article cites an upcoming report by Congress\u2019 Government Accountability Office (GAO)<\/a> that notes \u201cEPA leadership in October directed the heads of the agency\u2019s various programs to limit the number of chemicals they wanted IRIS to study or continue researching. \u00a0Nine of 16 assessments were then dropped, including one that looked at whether exposure to formaldehyde increases the risk of leukemia that \u2018has been drafted and is ready to be released for public comment.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0 The chemical industry has long sought to undermine the findings of numerous governmental authorities that have identified the dangers posed by formaldehyde, one of the industry\u2019s biggest cash cows<\/a>.<\/p>\n

IRIS itself has also long been a target of the chemical and allied industries, including those well represented by EPA political appointees who are now able to drive the assault on IRIS from inside the agency.<\/p>\n

This post will provide more of the backstory to the WSJ\u2019s excellent reporting.\u00a0 It reveals additional decisions being made as I write by conflicted political appointees, not only to derail the beleaguered IRIS assessment for formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen, but to transfer any further assessment of the chemical to be under the control of those same political appointees. \u00a0What is happening here we believe is ripe for further investigation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A brief history of IRIS and its formaldehyde assessment<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

IRIS, established in 1985, is situated within the science branch of EPA, the Office of Research and Development (ORD).\u00a0 That placement is intentional:\u00a0 ORD is not a regulatory branch, and placing IRIS there was intended to create an arms-length separation and a degree of independence from the EPA program offices that make regulatory decisions, decisions that necessarily consider more than science and can get caught up in political battles.\u00a0 As stated on EPA\u2019s website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The placement of the IRIS Program in ORD is intentional. \u00a0It ensures that IRIS can develop impartial toxicity information independent of its use by EPA\u2019s program and regional offices to set national standards and clean up hazardous sites.<\/p>\n

The science IRIS does serves all parts of EPA \u2013 all of its program offices and its 10 EPA regions \u2013 where it is used to inform air and water pollution limits, waste site cleanup standards and other risk levels and regulatory actions. \u00a0IRIS chemical hazard characterizations are also widely relied on by other federal agencies and other countries, as well as state and local governments (see this letter of support for IRIS from the Environmental Council of the States<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The IRIS assessment of formaldehyde has a long, convoluted, and contentious history that I will only touch on here before focusing on the latest chapter of this saga.<\/p>\n