Environmental Toxins: EPA's Chemical Screenings Questioned

Some scientists fear that the Bush administration has developed a chemical testing program that is biased toward the chemical industry. A $76 million new program is underway to determine whether certain chemicals can affect human hormones. The program aims to specifically identify endocrine disrupters.

EPA's Chemical Screenings Questioned

Critics warn that the Environmental Protection Agency has poorly designed lab tests in the study, failed to ensure that tests will be conducted on prenatal exposure to chemicals, required a flawed dosage range, and allows chemical companies to have a voice in certain aspects of the tests. Fred vom Saal, a developmental biologist at the University of Missouri, says that the study is flawed because "if your objective is not to find anything, that's the perfect way to do it."