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Scientists Ignored on Toxic Trailers
By Suemedha Sood
The Washington Independent
Tuesday 01 April 2008
Toxin agency slammed at oversight hearing.
Senior management at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,
the toxins arm of the CDC, got slammed today at a congressional hearing examining
the agency's response when the government trailers housing Hurricane Katrina
victims were found to be toxic.
The House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Investigations
and Oversight today held hearings into how and why the agency failed to protect
public health when those trailers were found to be emitting dangerous levels
of formaldehyde.
"In almost every respect ATSDR failed to fulfill its mission to protect
the public from exposure to formaldehyde at levels known to cause ill-health
effects," said Subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller (D-NC), who blamed a "collapse
of senior management and leadership."
At the hearing, it became clear that a leading government expert on formaldehyde
had tried to alert his superiors about the toxicity levels of the government
trailers in New Orleans, but was repeatedly ignored. Ultimately, he was demoted.
Today his superiors said they should have followed his advice, but they did
not address why they "reassigned" him to a new position.
Dr. Christopher De Rosa, former director of toxicology and environmental medicine
at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, said today that his
superiors ignored his concerns about formaldehyde levels, kept him out of correspondence
regarding its public health consultation and told him to stop writing them emails
expressing his concerns about that consultation.
De Rosa, who has worked for the federal government for 28 years, said he learned
that his division, which handles toxicology, was kept out of the loop of the
agency's work on the trailer issue.. He said today that information regarding
the agency's public health consultation was not shared with his division. This
was unusual, he explained, because health consultations involving toxicology
studies require review from De Rosa's division.
ATSDR Director Dr. Howard Frumkin admitted that the health report did not make
its way to De Rosa's division, but said this was because the agency was trying
to deliver an expedited emergency response. Frumkin said the division of toxicology
was left out of correspondence because the agency needed to act quickly. "In
retrospect, clearance in the division [of toxicology] did not occur," Frumkin
said. "[S]taff went through the emergency response chain, so only that
chain was used." The health consultation went directly from the "emergency
chain" to Frumkin's office.
De Rosa maintains that he was kept out of the loop on purpose. When he finally
did review the consultation, he immediately contacted Frumkin's office with
his concerns. In his emails, De Rosa said the consultation failed to assess
the long-term effects of formaldehyde, including the potential for cancer. "Despite
my repeated efforts to bring these issues to the attention of my management,"
said De Rosa, "we had very little constructive follow-up."
De Rosa wasn't the only one who talked about ATSDR's shortcomings. Dr. Meryl
Kerol of the University of Pittsburgh also testified today. Kerol, an expert
in toxicology, said the report seemed insufficient in its coverage of formaldehyde's
long-term health effects, reproductive effects and carcinogenic effects.
The Sierra Club's Becky Gillette went a step further. She testified at the
hearing that the "health consultation was a huge disappointment."
"[ATSDR] gave completely erroneous advice, covering up this problem when
the health of thousands was at stake," said Gillette. She said the agency
downplayed formaldehyde levels, which were higher than safe levels according
to the agency's own standards.
Gillette added that this wasn't a surprise, though. "Contaminated communities
often feel let down by ATSDR," she said.
Frumkin, the agency's director, acknowledged at the hearing that the initial
public health consultation was "narrowly focused [and had] an inappropriate
level of concern." He also said that the revised report took longer to
complete than it should have.
In October 2007, agency scientist De Rosa was demoted. This was a year after
he had received a performance-based raise and a bonus.
Frumkin assured the committee that neither he nor the agency had any intention
of firing De Rosa. But De Rosa said he has been physically moved around three
times, making it difficult for him to interact with other scientists.
At today's hearing, Miller praised what he described as De Rosa's whistle-blowing.
"It is not second nature for many managers to value whistle-blowers,"
Miller said, "but the loyalty we expect is the loyalty of the mission of
the agency, the loyalty to protect public health."
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