NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday 15 August 2001
CONTACT:
Jeanne Stuart McVey, Communications Liaison
tel: 202-686-2210, ext. 316; 415-509-1833 (cellular); jeannem@pcrm.org
Doctors Call on EPA to Block Animal Tests
on Severely Toxic Chemical
Washington, D.C.—Scientists at the Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) today called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
to block an industry plan to test the highly toxic and corrosive chemical nadic methyl
anhydride on animals, calling the tests unnecessary and extraordinarily cruel.
The tests are planned by the Industrial Health Foundation, a consortium of
chemical manufacturing companies, as part of the High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge, a
controversial program launched by the EPA in 1998. Among the proposed experiments are
repeat dose poisoning tests, reproductive toxicity tests, and a fatal test on fish. PCRM
maintains that the chemical nadic methyl anhydride is already known to be poisonous and,
in fact, is already tightly regulated.
"Nadic methyl anhydride causes blindness and severe respiratory and skin
reactions," said PCRM staff scientist Nicole Cardello, M.H.S. "Further tests on
animals will not change how these chemicals are handled."
PCRM's criticism comes under the 120-day public comment period mandated by the HPV
program. Unfortunately, the EPA has so far ignored public comments under the program and
left test decision-making up to the chemical industry.
The HPV Challenge is a voluntary program in which chemical manufacturers gather data on
the toxicity of chemicals produced or imported in quantities exceeding one million pounds
per year. However, critics charge that the companies are blundering ahead, proposing tests
that have already been conducted.
"The EPA seems to be paying no attention at all to the kinds of tests that are
proposed," Ms. Cardello said. "Cruel and needless tests—one after
another—seem to be the rule of the day."
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit
organization that promotes preventive medicine and higher standards in research. PCRM is
comprised of 5,000 physicians and more than 100,000 supporting members.
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