25
Sep
OIG Investigative Report Points to Continuing Industry Influence in Key Chemical Cancer Ranking
(Beyond Pesticides, September 25, 2024) In a semiannual report released in August 2024, EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) identifies a number of “unresolved†issues that strike the core of the agency’s failure to carry out its responsibilities to protect health and the environment. One of the issues identified is EPA’s failure to conduct an adequate and independent assessment of the cancer effects of the fumigant, 1,3-Dichloropropene (1,3-D or Telone). OIG’s original report, The EPA Needs to Improve the Transparency of Its Cancer-Assessment Process for Pesticides, was issued in 2022 and concluded that EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) engages in secret meetings with industry, elevates unqualified individuals to decision-making roles, uses an untested scientific approach, fails to conduct a simple literature review, and neglects public transparency. Other pesticide issues that OIG identified in its report include:
- The EPA Needs to Determine Whether Seresto Pet Collars Pose an Unreasonable Risk to Pet Health
- The EPA Has Not Verified that Its Laboratories Comply with Hazardous Waste Requirements
- EPA Needs an Agencywide Strategic Action Plan to Address Harmful Algal Blooms
- EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program Has Made Limited Progress in Assessing Pesticides
- EPA Needs to Evaluate the Impact of the Revised Agricultural Worker Protection Standard on Pesticide Exposure Incidents
[See report Table A-4, p13: Open and unresolved recommendations associated with human health and environmental Issues deficiencies and a lack of transparency in the 1,3-Dichloropropene pesticide cancer assessment process has undermined scientific credibility and public confidence. 22-E-0053 The EPA Needs to Improve the Transparency of Its Cancer-Assessment Process for Pesticides Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.]
In light of serious deficiencies in cancer assessment, Inside Climate News in a recent issue took a look back at the ongoing situation that puts public and worker health at serious cancer risk. Despite decades of scientific evidence linking 1,3-D exposure to heightened risk of blood cancers, including histiocytic lymphoma and leukemia, and EPA’s own assessment in 1985 that the chemical is “likely to be carcinogenic to humans,†OPP’s Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC) reversed the agency’s position in 2019, finding that 1,3-D “isn’t likely to cause cancer after all,†according to EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs. After assessing a “third-party peer review†conducted by a firm known for bending to industry claims of limited harm, EPA overturned its previous position, which Inside Climate News investigates. According to Inside Climate News, EPA relied on the findings of an industry supported group, SciPinion.
Investigation Summary
Investigative reporters at Inside Climate News identified SciPinion, a science-analysis firm, as an enabling scientific uncertainity. Despite describing itself as “introduc[ing] clarity and certainty from the expert community to the world’s toughest science problems, instilling universal trust in science,†SciPinion pushes forward scientific reports on chemical products overwhelmingly funded by the same companies producing the same products. Organic advocates, farmers, and land managers point to this co-optation of EPA as key reason for eliminating petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers and transitioning to organic.
“Inside Climate News reviewed 159 scientific articles published by one or both of the principal SciPinion scientists, Sean Hays, PhD and Christopher Kirman. Papers often re-evaluated evidence of health risks or advocated using alternative methods to ‘refine’ risk estimates for dozens of toxic substances, most worth billions of dollars in sales a year, including toxic metals (like chromium, used to make stainless steel), solvents (like benzene), pesticides, flame retardants and PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals.’ Of the 130 papers with a funder listed, 82 percent were sponsored by corporate interests, either the producer of the substance under study or the producer’s trade group, including the American Chemistry Council, the Chlorine Chemistry Council and the American Petroleum Institute.â€
The article underscores the divergence in expert opinion from SciPinion scientists, especially when considering that the National Toxicology Program and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) determined the carcinogenic potential of 1,3-D. “Papers published by SciPinion scientists, who also provide expert witness testimony and “product stewardship†services through the consulting firm Summit Toxicology, rarely conclude that toxic chemicals, including known carcinogens, need stricter regulations. Instead, they often argue for safety thresholds that allow higher levels of exposure, repeating an argument made by fossil fuel and petrochemical companies since U.S. regulatory agencies were established in the 1970s.â€
Health Impacts of Telone
Telone is a broad spectrum and cancer-causing soil fumigant used to control various soil-borne diseases, nematodes, and/or garden symphylans on a range of agricultural and non-agricultural crops. Various studies have identified this pesticide to increase risk of numerous adverse public health and environmental impacts, including cancer, kidney and liver damage, leaching potential into ground and surface water, and posing toxic harms to birds, fish, and other aquatic organisms. See further peer-reviewed literature and information on 1,3-D in the Gateway on Pesticide Hazards and Safe Pest Management.
In 2022, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) proposed to remove existing limits on the use of 1,3-D in order to allow Californians to breathe in more of the chemical than state toxicologists deemed safe. (See here for Beyond Pesticides comments to Director Julie Henderson and relevant CDPR staff for more details.)
Advocates across the nation, and within California, submitted comments—as did Beyond Pesticides—calling on EPA, Congress, and California Department of Pesticide Regulation to cancel the registration of all toxic soil fumigants and push forward organic compliant alternatives. (See previous Actions of the Week here and here for more information). Despite, this EPA and CDPR pushed forward their final proposals loosening restrictions on 1,3-D use, as reflected in the general requirements for its handling in the updated regulation found here and here.
Industry Interference
The article raises longstanding concern about EPA’s failure to adequately protect the public in the broader context of petrochemical pesticide and fertilizer industries success at infiltrating regulatory and academic entities both within and outside of the U.S.
A series of internal Monsanto documents were brought into the public sphere in 2017 discovery stage of various lawsuits against the pesticide manufacturer, leading to intrepid reporting by Carey Gillam (former Reuters and Huffington Post reporter, as well as executive director of U.S. Right to Know). Coined “The Monsanto Papers,†hundreds of internal emails, documents and correspondence with the federal government (particularly EPA) revealed “questionable research practices by the company, inappropriate ties to a top EPA official, and possible ‘ghostwriting’ of purportedly ‘independent’ research studies†that it publicly attributed to academics. Gillam incorporated these leaked documents and other findings from her reporting in the book Whitewash, and she discussed her research at the 38th National Pesticide Forum (See here). For previous Daily News coverage of The Monsanto Papers, see here and here.
Advocates, after years of petitions and outreach, successfully pushed for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to sunset its “strategic partnership†with petrochemical pesticide and fertilizer trade association CropLife International to address the systemic issue of corporate interference in global pesticide policy. This interference is not novel, as investigated by various outlets. “Merchants of Poison,†a first-of-its-kind investigative piece by U.S. Right to Know and Friends of the Earth, highlights Bayer/Monsanto’s “defense strategy†used to deny peer-reviewed, independent science, sow doubt among the public, and discredit voices of dissent that inconveniences their narratives. (See Beyond Pesticides analysis of this report here). Industry interference has also led to rollbacks of what would previously be sweeping biodiversity protections, including the retraction of the Vulnerable Species Pilot Project underneath the Herbicide Strategy Framework.
Unfortunately, there are continuing concerns in academic settings as well. For example, U.S. Right to Know reported on industry infiltration into the Entomological Society of America (ESA) in its 2023 annual meeting. ESA reportedly changed its approach to meeting sponsorships from the standard method employed by thousands of organizations, in which corporations and other organizations seeking to impress or recruit attendees organize “hospitality suites†and receptions. Instead, ESA adopted a “sponsorship program†that permitted industry-backed scientists more chances to present during scientific sessions, publish in ESA journals, and serve as officers in the organization. See the full Daily News here and the full report from U.S. Right to Know here.
See Daily News sections on Office of Inspector General and industry interference for more information and coverage.
Call to Action
The perfect disinfectant to corruption is shining a light on how it pervades institutions originally established in service of defending and enhancing the public interest. This Organic Month, advocates have the opportunity to engage in submitting input to the National Organic Standards Board on how to strengthen federal organic policy and programs. See Keeping Organic Strong to learn more about how to engage in this process ahead of the September 30 deadline.
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
Source: Inside Climate News
