In May, the EPA announced a major reorganization impacting its Office of Research and Development, which may jeopardize the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program responsible for assessing chemical risks. This restructuring is viewed as a victory for the chemical industry that has long sought to undermine the program. Industry experts express concern that the changes will dilute the agency's ability to set adequate regulations for human health. Amidst these cuts, IRIS's importance as an independent researcher of hazards is underscored.
"Unfortunately, right now, it looks like the polluters won," says Thomas Burke, the founder and emeritus director of the Johns Hopkins Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute and a former deputy assistant administrator of the EPA's Office of Research and Development.
The May 2 announcement is all part of a larger, comprehensive effort to restructure the entire agency," EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou told WIRED in an email.
Formed in the mid-1980s, the IRIS program was designed to investigate the health impacts of chemicals, collating the best available research from across the world to provide analyses of potential hazards from new and existing substances.
This reorganization threatens the existence of a tiny but crucial program housed within this office: the Integrated Risk Information System Program, commonly referred to as IRIS.
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