ACC Calls for Action After EPA Releases Draft Formaldehyde IRIS Assessment Without Addressing Transparency and Objectivity Issues

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment on formaldehyde for public comment. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) strongly objects to this decision, as it follows several unheeded calls by industry and lawmakers to address clear process deficiencies and potential issues of bias that undermine public confidence in the assessment. 

Year after year, ACC has met with IRIS staff to provide briefings on new scientific findings and to urge for transparency and scientific reliability in the process. Just last week, ACC released an analysis of public documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), that revealed a troubling pattern of process irregularities, potential issues of bias and conflicts of interest. ACC called on EPA to take immediate steps to address these concerns and are disappointed that, despite repeated calls for change, EPA is instead choosing to move forward with releasing its assessment. 

With ACC’s concerns unaddressed, ACC is even more troubled by the possibility that EPA’s draft formaldehyde IRIS assessment could be used as a risk communication tool, to guide regulations or to set policy at any level of government.

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