ATSDR: Problems in the Past, Potential for the Future?

Opening Statement By Chairman Brad Miller

The stated mission of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (“ATSDR”) “is to serve the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and disease related exposures to toxic substances.”

The relatively obscure federal government agency first came to this subcommittee’s attention a year and a half or so ago as a result of ATSDR’s health assessment for formaldehyde exposure by Katrina and Rita victims living in FEMA trailers. Government at all levels failed the victims of Katrina and Rita in many ways, but ATSDR’s failure was perhaps the most unforgivable. ATSDR’s health assessment certainly failed any test of scientific rigor, but ATSDR’s failure was worse than just jackleg science. ATSDR’s failure was a failure not just of the head but of the heart.

FEMA requested the health assessment to use in litigation, and requested that the assessment assume an exposure of less than two weeks, knowing that Katrina and Rita victims had already been exposed to formaldehyde fumes for more than a year and that there was no end in sight to their exposure. Stunningly, ATSDR’s report gave FEMA just what FEMA asked for.

FEMA touted the assessment to assure families living in the FEMA trailers that the formaldehyde fumes were nothing to worry about. Dr. Howard Frumkin, then and still the Director of ATSDR, will testify today. Dr. Frumkin held a dozen senior staff meetings on the formaldehyde issue over a six month period after ATSDR issued the flawed report in February 2007. Only after unflattering scrutiny congressional committees did ATSDR correct the health assessment.

Since then, this subcommittee has heard from many sources of other examples of jackleg science by ATSDR and a keenness to please industries and government agencies that prefer to minimize public health consequences of environmental exposures. Our sources have included outside scientists, residents of communities exposed to various chemicals, and ATSDR’s own scientists. One ATSDR staff scientist told our subcommittee staff “It seems like the goal is to disprove the communities’ concerns rather than actually trying to prove exposures.”

Today we will hear about a small number of the cases that have been called to our attention, and about problems at ATSDR that date from the agency’s creation.

Then there is the question what to do about ATSDR. When federal agencies fail in their mission, the problem is usually a lack of necessary resources. There is no reason to believe that more funding or more staff would result in anything other than a greater volume of jackleg assessments saying “not to worry.”

We hope the new Obama Administration will take a hard look at ATSDR. We may also consider legislative fixes. ATSDR was exempted from forced peer review for its “health assessments,” but the statute never forbid scientific review and the vast majority of ATSDR’s health reports do not go through independent review today. Most scientists see peer review as helpful, constructive criticism. ATSDR, on the other hand, apparently sees the opinions of outside scientists as unwelcome meddling. As a result, ATSDR’s research design and methodology is often flawed, according to other scientists, and ATSDR’s research is frequently not sound, accurate or complete. Perhaps Congress could require peer review by legislation. But it is hard to know how Congress can require ATSDR’s leadership to have the guts to resist political pressure and insist on scientific integrity.

The American people deserve better, and so do the many scientists at ATSDR who have dedicated their lives to protecting the public’s health, and devoutly wish that ATSDR faithfully and effectively perform the agency’s stated mission.
 

Opening Statement By Chairman Bart Gordon

I want to thank Mr. Miller for calling this hearing. This Subcommittee has done good work in keeping the pressure on the Centers for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to get the science right when protecting the public’s health.

Chemicals of all kinds pollute our water, our air, our soil, and also enter the food chain. Some are benign and some are dangerous.

For a community that has had a toxic spill or long-standing pollution issues, worrying that you or your family may get sick because of something they eat or breath or drink is a part of your everyday existence. If you live in such a place, you live with worry and fear and maybe even a sense of guilt that by choosing to live there you are exposing your family to something that could make them sick or even kill them.

When Congress established ATSDR in the 1980s, we hoped that it would be like the cavalry riding over the horizon to come and tell a community that everything was alright, or at least to let you know how bad the situation is. We expected them to use the best science and develop ever more innovative ways to establish whether some environmental problem was becoming a public health problem.

Unfortunately, ATSDR seems to be the gang that can’t shoot straight. They come into local communities, often ignore the health complaints of local citizens, seem to ignore obvious ways to determine what might be happening, and more often than not go away saying there is nothing to worry about because they couldn’t find anything. As witnesses today will testify, ATSDR seems to resist developing new scientific methods for doing their work.

The American public deserves better than this for their $74 million a year—that is ATSDR’s budget—and I believe this agency can do better.

There are many, many dedicated public health professionals at ATSDR who would love to call it as they see it.

There is ample room to improve the agency’s scientific methods, and to be more creative in how they do science, so that the public is better served.

It is past time that we hold this agency to higher standards.
 

Witnesses

Panel 1

1 - Mr. Jeffery Camplin
President Camplin Environmental Services, Inc. Camplin Environmental Services, Inc.
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2 - Dr. Ronald Hoffman
Professor Tisch Cancer Institute Department of Medicine Tisch Cancer Institute Department of Medicine
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3 - Professor Randall Parrish
Head NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory British Geological Survey NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory British Geological Survey
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4 - Mr. Salvador Mier
Local Resident, Midlothian, Texas Former Director of Prevention Center for Disease Control Former Director of Prevention Center for Disease Control
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Panel 2

1 - Dr. Henry S. Cole
President Henry S. Cole & Associates, Inc. Henry S. Cole & Associates, Inc.
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2 - Dr. David Ozonoff
Professor of Environmental Health Boston University School of Public Health Boston University School of Public Health
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3 - Mr. Ronnie Wilson
Former Ombudsman Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
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Panel 3

1 - Dr. Howard Frumkin
Director National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Sub
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