Statement

ACC Comments on EPA's Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program

ARLINGTON, VA (October 20, 2009) — The American Chemistry Council (ACC) reiterated its commitment to work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the agency announced the schedule for the first set of chemicals to be evaluated under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) to determine if these chemicals  do – or do not – have an effect on the endocrine system. 
 
ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley said, “This announcement is an important next step in the process.  The inclusion of a chemical on this list, however, does not mean it is an endocrine disruptor.  The chemicals scheduled for evaluation have a strong safety record and provide tremendous benefits in Americans everyday lives.  In ACC’s view, a full interpretation of the wealth of existing data on these chemicals is critical, so that EPA and the industry can determine what additional specific studies, if any, are essential.”
 
ACC and its member companies have worked in both national and international venues for the past 13 years to provide test methods and results as part of the datasets needed by EPA and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to develop, standardize and validate endocrine screens and tests.  ACC and its members will follow EPA’s issuance of the EDSP test orders closely, particularly as they provide an opportunity to demonstrate the sound science behind the safety profile of our products. 
 
Of the sixty-seven chemicals slated by EPA for evaluation for use in pesticides, fifty-eight are active ingredients in pesticide formulations and nine are High Production Volume (HPV) chemicals reportedly used as pesticide inert ingredients.  In some instances, the testing requirements under this EDSP action may not apply to manufacturers of the identified chemicals who do not sell into the pesticide market.  ACC members will carefully review the EDSP test orders, evaluate what is already known about potential toxicity and health risks, including existing data on impacts via endocrine pathways, and then formally respond to EPA.
 
“ACC and its member companies are committed to the safety of their products.  As Congress looks to potential changes in the federal chemical management framework, ACC and its members support approaches that will ensure that EPA has the appropriate tools to assess the safety of chemicals in a framework that can adapt to new science and technology,” Dooley said.

Learn more about endocrine disruption.