Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko (D-NY) issued the following statement today after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the health and safety studies it used to conduct its risk evaluation of Pigment Violet 29 (PV29) - studies the Agency had previously refused to make public after wrongly claiming that they constituted “Confidential Business Information":
“The release of these studies is a win for government transparency and the credibility of the TSCA program," said Pallone and Tonko. “Now the public can more fully understand EPA’s draft risk evaluation and hold the Agency accountable. We are pleased these documents can finally be made available to the American people, and welcome the reopening of the public comment period on this important risk evaluation."
PV29 is a toxic chemical often found in paints and plastics. EPA’s draft risk evaluation of the substance found “no unreasonable risk," despite the fact it belongs to a class of chemicals linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, immune impacts and neurological damage. On Jan. 30, the Committee leaders first asked EPA to produce the studies upon which EPA had based their conclusion, noting that EPA’s decision to designate the studies as Confidential Business Information was unlawful under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In a February 15 response, EPA acknowledged that such a designation is unlawful for studies submitted under TSCA, but still did not produce them - forcing Pallone and Tonko to renew their demand for the studies yesterday.
The newly released studies can be found HERE.
