EPA to Review Toxicity Ratings

Congress orders the Environmental Protection Agency to review the toxicity ratings of some chemicals and improve its process for making such assessments.

Written byJef Akst

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Octopi in formaldehydeWIKIMEDIA COMMONS, GOSSIPGUY

The Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is a database that stores assessments about the safety levels of various chemicals. The assessments, formalized by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are based on scientific data, but the process—as well as the IRIS entries—have been widely criticized. A review of the EPA's assessment of formaldehyde by a National Academies’ National Research Council (NRC) panel, for example, insisted upon by Senator David Vitter (R-LA) in 2009 found there was not sufficient evidence to support the idea that formaldehyde causes leukemia, despite observations that workers exposed to the chemical are at an increased risk of death from the disease, among other technical problems with the assessment.

The NRC panel suggested a number of changes to the EPA’s process of ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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