Yesterday, The Associate Press published an article about chlorpyrifos and Dow’s push to ignore findings from federal scientists; however, Dow released a statement today (April 21) noting that the article “contained a number of misleading and inaccurate statements.”
Michael Biesecker, author of “Pesticide maker tries to kill risk study,” wrote:
Environmental advocates said Wednesday that criticism of the government’s scientists was unfounded. The methods used to conduct EPA’s biological evaluations were developed by the National Academy of Sciences.
Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity, said Dow’s experts were trying to hold EPA scientists to an unrealistic standard of data collection that could only be achieved under “perfect laboratory conditions.”
Approved for use in the United States and nearly 100 countries, Dow reports chlorpyrifos is one of the most widely used and thoroughly studied pest control products in the world. More than 4,000 studies examined the chemical in terms of health, safety and the environment.
“In its preparation of biological evaluations of chlorpyrifos and the other comounds under the Endangered Species Act, EPA did not apply its own standards of data quality, nor did it follow its own procedures,” Dow wrote in the statement. “As a result, Dow and other companies submitted concerns and scientific requests through various proper channels.”
Through letters to key individuals in Washington, D.C., Dow advocates that EPA return to applying its own standards of data quality and following its own procedures.
