Tobacco Documents Online

. a9: us- 93 15:48 V2u2 466, duU2 APCO ASSOCIATES JiJNI: SCIENCE AT THE EPA Time and again, the U'. S l.nh +ro^ n,. n~a1 PmtLxtion agency, chargsrd by law withachieving environmental quality and hurnwn n:3s tal:zn extreme positions not supported by science.. Under pressure frotn, activi~t v. hich are aided and abetted by thenews and entertainment utdustry, the EPA h~. sieht of whether real benefits can be achievedl by setting overzealous standards. Tn: r_,ult- has been regulatory chaos, billions of dollars wasted, an& a public repeatt;dly terror.2id bN crN erblown health and environmental crises that make headlines one day and then fade uo nothing, the next. Take~ Alar, for exanple, a, chemical uhud to slow the ripzniutg of apples headed for market. The EPA began pushing for a ban, on, Alar in ti4g5, otulytoGx; rebuffed repeatedlg• by its own Science Advisory Panel- w hich concluded thxt there was littlt:! scientific basis for such aibanL Then in, 1959, a, CBS' "60 Minute~" segnnent -- orchestrated by a publicrelations firm hired~ by the Natural Resources Dcfrnse Counk;illl (IN'RDC), an environmental activist group -- appeared to impliirate Mar as a, ca~ncrr-(;;*using algznt. setting off a nationwide panic. Mctthers tossed apples in the garbagc, ahplr VroIA'trs, lost trrillidns, of dnllars in incotne, But the sciientifiic evidence was tar fr0m conLIuske. Experts with the WarldiHealth Organization andi the British government foundno evidence that Alar wa5 carcinogenic inn mice, an& stated that the minuseule srnounts found ' in fc&~dl posed "no risk to health." Scientists at the Anteriican Gouncili con Sc;encre amdl Hralth and the American MeAcal.i Association, Characterized the Aiar scare as~ spurious a% one put it, the Alar issue was a, "sorny,' examplfr, of what can happen %% henpr,l iticsand~ hti;tleriaprevail over science." PJevernheless_ the EPA used the negati% t psbliL ity' generated by "6((1' Minutes" to pressure manufacrarers into withdrawing the suhAtan.e from the marketplace. Only two years later„ as rcponed in the journal' Science. the EPA backed away, ffrom its earl.ierr statenents, saying, that. while still a"grobabll " car,~inogen, Alar was only half as potent as iR ha& stated in 1989. Many scientists sittnpic, saw this as halving an alttrady, hypot}ieticalrisk.. Indeed, former Surgeon General C'. E% erett KLxxp JC0aired in 1991 that Alar had, rtetrer posed "a health hazard." Yet the ban on atar still stands. Another casc: Jiiuxim The contruvCrw overcxrx)sure to~t~his, chemical has draggedloni f+or: more than two decades. Tzrrned d'po»sit?te" huut2ancarcinogCn, in the early 19t;05, dioxin has been more commonly portiravcd' as onu of the most potent carcinogens known to man, despite the fact that similar compounds occur n:iturally -- in broccoli, for exarnple. Wuuai During1982 ~~ and 1983, 'the ~ fuie~rr:~il ~t~~~zrnnte~~nr~~ s~*nt~~ $33 ' milllibn to~ buy, the~ tb~wn~~: of Tunes Bi,-Ach. Misso ri, and relocatt its 2.240 rr.sioicncs, bezause the streets of the town had been contaminated with dibxin.

"(D3,:~08'; 93 15~~: 49 '®"20: 41616 ' 6002) AKlll'1 ASSOCIATES But the seientific data on dl(rk:in tliar't d:-asu: action -- a fact the EPA now appears willing to admit. :: - ..e e,.isins its assessment on dioxin, the EPA now concedes that the he.alith thTr:* .. _: A,d' Ahat of the millions s)ent, for elieanup? Dr. Erich Br'Ytthbuer. t;=i.i of EP:-k saruqs it off as an, ° expensive tnistiake. " The latest, "Crisis' - er.airunmental tohaccu scno}k: - - t:as been widely, ccriticized as the niost, shocking distortionofscie,ttiifiic c~ideo<z~et. Lai.ti December theBPAreleased a report, "Respiratory Health Effects of Pa:,k e Smc,l:in,: Lu!ng Cancer and Other Disorders," which claiancd, that "secondary smoke" is responsible for as many as 3,000 lung cancer deaths in the United Stiates each yetar: Of the 30 studies reviewa.d t?s EPA. :4 showed no statistically signif'icanti correlation between secondary smoke and can,~:r: and the renaaining 6 showed a stnall correlation but researchers could not: rule out other i,,A tor: than can artfecri the incidence of cancer such, as diet, outdoor air pollution, genetics. prior lun,_ disease. etc., of the individuals studied. Unab.lk to maneuver this issue through a barriar of long-held statistical standards, the EPA yimpliyi rtxlucatl the conl'idence intervaS for tltc~,c: studies froin, 95 to 90 percent -- thereby doubling the margin for error and forciuvg the cottcilusion of iincrea_tiadl risk. If sccondary, ssmoke is so scriious a prcEnlent. % FiN did the EPA have to rig the nttmbers? The litany of quesuontWe cmsescmanalrinetramtheEnv-inonrnental Protection Agency is by no means confined to thzse thiree isstIes. It could just as easily include lead, radon, asbestos, acid raist, global wxrniirrQ. and a hoal of otihers, The situation has gottien so out of hand that the Agentv was adntirni,she.i last }ear My, itis own Science Advisory Panel inn a repott to then-A.dministrator Williana Reiilly Noting that the ffPA's scientific finrjin~s are widely perceived, even by EPa sta~~f. as adjusted to fit its pc)liicy, prescriptiun,. the S~Jrnvc Aci. iwry Panel report. "Safeguarding, the Future: Credible Science, Crtwdibleheci,siiirnsi." cri~ri4•iLed tiheAgencyforrfid~iling tr?develop~a "coherent science agenda and operationdl plant to kuidz [litsj scientiliic effdits ... and support its focus on relativelly high-risk cna ironntiental prohlems. "Trhe: interpretation and use of s, izncz is uncN cn 3ndl haphazard across programs and issues," the rc:port saud', addin-e that btirr,-wcratic poiiiciies and institutions are set in motion to addtess environmentall problznns lonz hefoarr the scientific evidence is conclusive or, unde+ed, even considered.

U3 U5.1 93' 15, 419 $:!U.' 466 BiUiU2' APCO ASSUCIATES e (JoS In an era of increasing:) s:ar.r re". rnu. .%. and with znvironmenta] regulation costs already soaring', to $15q million per ~ z; - i:Lr cnf S1500 per household), it is time for the EnvirunmenW PiotcctRon ~. Lr.lxf~~ :Adnr.miuratur CarLA Browner, to heed' the warnings from its own advi!sor} panel and ' adhere tti, the establisbedi rigorous stamdards of peer-rn:viewed~ publishcd rescar:±^. Whkm dacisioms arc made on the basis of public hysteria, created by screaming headUinca' and~ ta'hi'o,d TN, the citizenrs is cheated out of billions of dollars that might be better sprmt on, ,:-sl% improviuiu the puhli.: hzalth. S. Fred Singer Visiting fe~llovv~~ at the Hcxavz~~r~ Institution art~~ Suanfoird tTniv~e~rsitw~ and President of the Washington. D C.-hasrdiSc irnt;e & Env ironrnentallPol'icy Project