EPA FACES BROAD INDUSTRY CRITICISM OF PERC STUDY PRIOR TO NAS REVIEW

摘要

EPA's controversial study on the risks posed by the ubiquitous dry cleaning and degreasing solvent tetrachloro-ethylene (perc), which was delayed for two years amid internal agency disagreements, is facing broad criticism from industry ahead of a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) review slated to begin next month. Industry officials and consultants say the document does not include a rigorous analysis of scientific uncertainty that EPA's own science advisors have recommended and falls short of EPA guidelines for data quality and cancer risk assessments. "It's been held up for two years waiting for the uncertainty analyses component. That's what EPA has said it's been doing for two years," says Lorenz Rhomberg, a former EPA risk assessor now consulting for the aerospace industry. "Exactly what uncertainty analysis should consist of is debated. This wasn't it."