A National Academies panel April 8 urged the Environmental Protection Agency to substantially revise a draft assessment on formaldehyde to provide more adequate support for key conclusions, such as its finding that the chemical causes leukemia and other human cancers.
The agency is supposed to follow numerous guidance documents when determining whether a chemical causes specific health effects, said Jonathan Samet, chairman of the National Research Council’s Committee to Review EPA’s Draft IRIS [Integrated Risk Information System] Assessment of Formaldehyde.
IRIS assessments are the agency’s consensus conclusions about the human health hazards of a chemical and the doses at which ...