Citation a recent investigation by ProPublicaSen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., urged the Environmental Protection Agency in this week’s letter issue a final report on formaldehyde’s health risks that is “scientifically sound” and “as strong as possible,” adding that “the agency has a duty to protect the public from this chemical.”
Formaldehyde, which is used in everything from preserving corpses to binding wood products and making plastics, is very widespread and causes cancer far more than any other toxic air pollutant. ProPublica analysis of EPA air pollution data showed that in every census block in the US, the lifetime risk of cancer from exposure to formaldehyde in outdoor air was greater than the target set by the Air Pollution Control Agency.
The EPA released a draft formaldehyde risk assessment in March and, after receiving feedback from the public and a panel of experts, is expected to release a final version by the end of the year. The future assessment will be used to inform future restrictions the agency places on the chemical. But a ProPublica investigation found that a draft version of the report used unusual methods to underestimate the risk of formaldehyde.
In one case, the agency determined whether concentrations of formaldehyde in outdoor air posed an “unreasonable risk” — a level that required the agency to eliminate it — not by measuring them against a health-based standard, but by comparing them to the highest level of the chemical , measured outdoors over a five-year period. ProPublica found that the measurement the agency chose as a reference point was random and did not meet the local air monitoring authority’s quality control standards.
The EPA did not immediately respond to ProPublica’s questions about Sen. Blumenthal’s letter or when the agency plans to release its final report.
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EPA assesses the health risk of formaldehyde under the Toxic Substances Control Act, the main federal law that regulates chemicals. This process usually relies on toxicity assessments calculated by a separate agency division. In the case of formaldehyde, the EPA released its final toxicity values in August of this year, decades after the process of calculating them began. All the while, companies that make and use the chemical — and stand to lose money if it is restricted — have criticized the agency’s figures and worked to delay their release.
Some industry-affiliated members of an expert committee that reviewed a formaldehyde assessment project this year continued to criticize the EPA’s toxicity estimates and suggested the agency weaken them in its final report.
In his letter, Blumenthal advised EPA Administrator Michael Regan not to follow that path. “Throughout your tenure, EPA has steadfastly pursued its vital mission of protecting human health and the environment,” he wrote. “I urge you to continue this commitment and issue a final risk assessment for formaldehyde based on the best available science.”
