Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee began investigating potential conflicts of interest of scientists appointed to various EPA advisory panels. Recently, the EPA fired a toxicologist from an advisory panel for commenting before a state legislative body about the negative health effects of the chemical she was investigating while a member of the panel. While this particular toxicologist was fired by EPA for having a conflict of interest, the EPA continued to employ other advisory panel members who worked for or were paid by the companies manufacturing the chemicals that the panels were investigating. Thanks to a report by the Environmental Working Group, at least 17 other instances of potential conflicts have come to light involving industry insiders with memberships on EPA advisory panels.
If we truly want the EPA to be able to determine what is best for public health and the environment, EPA must have independent scientific reviews. I’ll definitely be following this story as the investigation unfolds.
