Facing a barrage of criticism on studies in which dosent business people with pesticides to determine chemical toxicity, the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) is looking for outside advice. On 14 December, the agency asked the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to help decide whether to accept these controversial data.
A law adopted in 1996 has set new safety limits for pesticide product. Therefore, industry researchers have increasingly paid volunteers exposed to pesticides in order to determine the minimum level of a toxic substance that causes effects such as headaches, nausea, and changes in the activity of enzymes in the blood. Although companies say human experiences are preferable to animal studies in establishing realistic standards, these types of tests remain controversial. Clinton era EPA chief Carol Browner prohibits the agency from the use of human data after activists argued that the tests - unlike drug trials - show no benefit to the health of participants. And an EPA advisory group that has struggled with the issue for more than 2 years ( Science January 1, 1999, p. 18) allowed some human pesticide studies but recommended minimum response tests.
EPA revived controversy last month when he announced that the agency had resumed consideration of human Pesticides data and develop a policy for these tests. On December 14, in an about-face, the EPA announced that it suspend these studies until weighs NAS. The agency wants to know, for example, if a toxicity study on humans should be regarded as "unacceptable" and how it should evaluate studies that have been done according to the ethical guidelines that govern research funded by the federal government .
Outsiders say that the agency should develop formal guidelines for human studies if it will encourage them. Bioethicist Arthur Caplan of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a member of the advisory committee, said EPA is "desperately needs a policy."
report on human pesticide tests the EPA advisory board
environmental information on the working group on human testing
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