Reviewers Back EPA's ETBE Risk Study Despite Sharing Industry Concern

摘要

Members of a panel charged with peer reviewing EPA's draft toxicological profile for ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) are backing the agency's conclusion that there is "suggestive" evidence the fuel additive may cause cancer despite shared concerns with industry officials that an Italian study the document relies on is flawed.rnDespite the problems with the study, which was conducted by the non-profit European Ramazzini Foundation (ERF) laboratory in Italy and is commonly referred to as the "1991 Maltoni study," it is nonetheless safe to say "suggestive" evidence exists that ETBE could be a carcinogen, many of the panelists said during a Jan. 26 review session in Washington, DC. This is in part due to ETBE's similarity to methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), which studies suggest may be a carcinogen itself, some panelists said.