Duplicative Atrazine Endocrine Testing?

A key industry-affiliated think tank is arguing that part of EPA's planned review of the controversial herbicide atrazine would be "duplicative, wasteful and unnecessarily burdensome" because EPA is already reviewing atrazine's effects on hormones in its new endocrine screening program.

EPA Oct. 29 announced the first round of orders requiring pesticide makers to test compounds for possible adverse impacts on human hormones under its endocrine disruptor screening program (EDSP). The first test orders are for seven chemicals, including atrazine.

Separately, EPA earlier this month announced a review of atrazine by its Science Advisory Panel (SAP). EPA will review the pesticide's potential cancer and non-cancer effects on humans and use the findings to decide whether to revise a Bush-era agency atrazine risk assessment, or restrict the pesticide's use. The SAP will meet Nov.3 in Arlington, VA, to discuss the upcoming review.

But the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) says that having both SAP and the EDSP screen atrazine's endocrine effects would be a waste of resources. In an Oct. 23 letter to EPA toxic chief Steve Owens, CRE argues that EPA should refer all testing on atrazine's endocrine effects to the EDSP and not the SAP.

"EPA and the atrazine registrants are already spending substantial time, money and energy assessing atrazine's endocrine effects, if any, during the EDSP process. Neither EPA nor the registrants should waste time, money and energy unnecessarily duplicating those efforts through the new SAPs that EPA has suddenly scheduled. Endocrine effects should be assessed through the EDSP that EPA has spent many years and millions of dollars developing, not through these impromptu SAPs," according to the letter signed by CRE board of advisers member Jim Tozzi.

"If EPA is not confident about its EDSP process, then the agency should withdraw its atrazine and other EDSP test orders," the letter continues. "EPA should not send any test orders unless and until EPA is confident that the EDSP process will do what the agency said it would."

In addition, the letter also asks EPA officials to "publicly defend the integrity and competency of EPA career staff and SAP scientist with regard to their prior review and regulation of atrazine," noting attacks during seven previous SAPs dealing with atrazine from the media, non-governmental organizations and individuals.

CRE also recently submitted comments to EPA arguing against the nomination to the SAP of Tyrone Hayes, a professor with the University of California-Berkeley who has done work on the impacts of atrazine on frogs. Industry argues that Hayes' high-profile research shows a history of "highly charged, political positioning" against the use of atrazine, while environmentalists and the scientific community say he would bring "scientific rigor" to the panel.


Posted 10/29/2009

Inside EPA