Yesterday, your humble scribe revealed the fallacies in an Environmental Protection Agency s Formaldehyde Toxicity draft document on formaldehyde toxicity for an article posted on ACSH s Health Facts and Fears:
Yesterday, your humble scribe revealed the fallacies in an Environmental Protection Agency s Formaldehyde Toxicity draft document on formaldehyde toxicity for an article posted on ACSH s Health Facts and Fears:
¦the very science cited in the draft report specifically contradicts the findings publicly broadcast during the EPA s phone conference. Yet the EPA chose to dismiss the conflicting opinions of other studies without providing an explanation as to how formaldehyde can cause cancer and asthma. (News media picked up this story and, predictably, ran overboard with it: the New Orlean s Times-Picayune s headline is illustrative: "Formaldehyde causes cancer, EPA declares.")
Why does the EPA ignore results from reputable groups that contradict its conclusions? It appears their goal is to expand their regulatory influence. By publicizing baseless tin can claims despite substantial disagreement in the literature, the EPA has needlessly heightened the fear of Hurricane Katrina victims who have already suffered enough.
Notably, while I was preparing the blog post, scientists at NASA were concluding the same thing.
Dr. Ross adds, It is highly unusual to see such public contempt directed at one government department from another.
