NEWS RELEASE

Committee on Energy and Commerce
Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman

Dingell, Stupak Investigate American Chemistry Council, EPA Review Panels

Washington, DC – Key lawmakers today questioned the role the chemical industry’s main lobbying group, the American Chemistry Council (ACC), has played in shaping scientific consensus about the safety of certain consumer products.

In a letter to ACC, Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI), the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), the Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, note that ACC helps fund the International Society for Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology (ISRTP), which publishes the scientific journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. The lawmakers’ letter questions whether ACC’s funding has resulted in bias in the journal.

“Peer reviewed journals play an important role in shaping and informing scientific debate about the safety of consumer products,” Dingell said. “Our Committee intends to determine what influence the chemical industry yields over the scientific community and whether that influence is proper.”

“Americans rely on sound science to ensure the safety of everyday products,” Stupak said. “If that science has been compromised by industry, then the health and safety of the public is in danger.”

The letter also asks ACC for information on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) peer review panels and Dr. Deborah Rice. Rice was dismissed from her position on an EPA peer review panel after ACC complained Rice was not impartial because she had previously expressed concerns about the health effects of decabromobiphenyl ether (deca), a chemical widely used as a flame retardant. Meanwhile, the letter notes, at least nine EPA panels assessing the human health effects of toxic chemicals have included individuals alleged to have financial interests in the chemical industry. Last month, Dingell and Stupak wrote EPA about its peer review panel process and Rice’s dismissal.

Read the letter »

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