EPA 'Perverted Its Mission,' Experts Charge

March 17, 2008— -- Public-interest groups and a union local representing the government's own scientists blasted the Bush administration for removing an expert toxicologist from a chemical review panel after the chemical industry demanded her dismissal.

The Environmental Protection Agency removed Dr. Deborah Rice from a panel reviewing the safety of chemical flame retardants following a letter from the American Chemical Council accusing her of "bias" for having testified on her research on such chemicals.

The lobby group noted a February 2007 article which said Rice, a former EPA scientist, had told the Maine legislature there was "no doubt in her mind" that a retardant called deca should be eliminated because it is "a persistent toxin that accumulates in the food chain."

Rice had researched a flame retardant known as deca, and found that mice exposed to the chemical showed numerous brain development problems. Deca is used in the cabinetry of many television sets. The EPA said it dismissed her because of "the perception of a potential conflict of interest."

In a new letter to EPA officials including its chief, Stephen Johnson, public-interest scientists blasted Rice's removal and demanded she be reinstated. "The actions taken by EPA against Dr. Rice call into question the credibility of the EPA," stated the March 17 letter from the National Resources Defense Council, Center for Science in the Public Interest and other groups, including the local union representing EPA researchers.

"When it allows itself to serve the interests of the polluting industries that it is charged with regulating, it has perverted its mission, compromised its credibility, and forsaken its Congressional mandate," the groups said.

Contacted for a response, EPA spokesman Tim Lyons sent an e-mailed statement. "Scientists serving on EPA's independent review panels are fully vetted for any real or perceived conflicts of interest," it read, "to ensure that the Agency's peer reviews are open, transparent and of the highest quality."