At a trial over fluoride regulations this summer, EPA eschewed its own experts, hiring an outside company often deployed by corporations to deny and downplay chemicals' health impacts.
Exponent Inc. — founded in the 1960s to defend automobile
manufacturers in accident lawsuits — has since been busy questioning whether
smoking causes lung cancer, whether Agent Orange exposure leads to prostate
cancer, and whether per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are linked to kidney
cancer.
Testifying for EPA in the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of California, Exponent experts cast doubt on studies that
underpin federal regulation of lead and mercury, even as the agency's own
scientists — under subpoena by the plaintiffs — said new research does indeed
warrant a review of fluoride's neurotoxic effects.
That EPA would favor "rented white coats" over
federal experts underscores just how cozy President Trump's EPA has become with
industry, experts say.
"You don't hire Exponent to give you fresh eyes and an
independent view to protect public health. You hire Exponent to defend a
chemical," said David Michaels, who formerly led the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration and has written two books on what he calls the
"product defense" industry.
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