FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16th, 2018
CONTACT
Cara Cook
Climate Change Program Coordinator, ANHE
cara@envirn.org
(585) 469-2383
Nurses Join Medical, Public Health, and Scientific Groups in Opposition to EPA’s Censoring Science Proposal
(Washington, DC) – Today the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments joined with more than 60 health, medical, and scientific organizations asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdrawal its proposal, “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science”, which would limit the use of the best available research in developing health-based standards. In order to truly protect public health, the EPA must consider the full extent of available science on the health impacts of environmental exposures. The groups released the following statement to express concern over the proposed rule:
“We strongly oppose EPA’s efforts to restrict the use of the best available science in its policymaking and encourage EPA to withdraw its proposal.
We support the goal of improving the transparency of science and access to data. When feasible, scientists should strive for appropriate public access to data to maximize independent validation and trust in the scientific process. However, there are many credible scientific studies where the exposure of raw data to the public is infeasible, or would reveal confidential patient information.
The research EPA relies on to make determinations is already transparent in most cases. Many scientific journals and research agencies now have policies governing the sharing of data among researchers and with appropriate access by the public at large.
If EPA excludes studies because the data cannot be made public, people may be exposed to real harm. The result would be decisions affecting millions based on inadequate information that fails to include well-supported studies by expert scientists. These efforts are misguided and will not improve the quality of science used by EPA nor allow the agency to fulfill its mandate of protecting human health and the environment. For the sake of the country’s health, EPA must not restrict this research.”
View the statement with the full list of signers here.
###
The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to promote healthy people and healthy environments by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating evidence-based practice, and influencing policy.
