Research Includes Health Impacts and Conditions Linked to Toxic Exposure
Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul led a coalition of 14 attorneys general today in sending a letter to Congress, urging members to oppose two Congressional bills that would prohibit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from relying on scientific assessments from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program, which are critical to protect Americans against deadly exposure to toxic chemicals.
Raoul and the coalition’s letter also urges Congress to oppose the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD), which is the research arm of the EPA that provides the scientific basis for EPA’s work.
“I am urging Congress to oppose the Trump administration’s attack on science and the Office of Research and Development, which is critical to helping the EPA and states protect residents from toxic chemicals. The EPA must be able to conduct research and rely on scientific data in order to help Illinois and states across the nation identify and address the presence of toxic chemicals directly linked to cancer, birth defects and learning disabilities,” Raoul said. “Americans deserve to know that their air, water and other natural resources are not dangerous to their health and well-being. I will continue to advocate for the safety and welfare of our communities.”
In the letter, Raoul and the attorneys general explain IRIS assessments are the result of an unbiased, scientific review that determines the levels where the many chemicals entering the environment through industry and other sources are harmful to human health. Without knowing the level at which these chemicals can cause a risk to human health, such as cancer and birth defects, it would be difficult for the EPA to adequately protect the public from exposure, which will jeopardize the health and safety of the entire county.
The letter goes on to state the ORD conducts critical scientific research that is used in a wide range of areas, including protecting drinking water sources from natural disasters and terrorist attacks, studying air pollution caused by wildfire smoke, and researching PFAS and other emerging contaminants. The reported plan to dissolve the ORD and fire more than 1,000 scientists would have immediate consequences and make it difficult for the EPA to meet its statutory requirements of using the best available science to inform its work.
The ORD provides integral scientific and technical resources to states that help states protect residents from environmental pollutants that can cause significant health risks. For example, in Illinois, ORD gave essential support to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to identify how to best protect University Park residents when a change by the water utility supplier resulted in dangerously high levels of lead in drinking water in 2019.
The letter also highlights that IRIS assessments are used by the EPA to determine which communities across the country face higher risks from exposure to hundreds of toxic chemicals, such as ethylene oxide. For example, after the IRIS assessment for ethylene oxide was updated in 2016, the EPA determined that people living and working near a commercial medical sterilizer in Willowbrook, Illinois faced a significant risk of cancer. In response, Illinois enacted legislation to dramatically reduce allowable emissions of ethylene oxide from commercial sterilization facilities.
Joining Attorney General Raoul in sending the letter are attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin and Vermont.
