Chemical Reform Agenda
PEER has a long track record of representing whistleblowers and working with anonymous government employees who want to hold their agencies accountable for protecting public health and the environment from toxic chemicals and pollution.
Our work focuses on five areas:
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Protecting scientists in their work.
- Ensuring that any chemical in commerce is safe or can be managed to protect human health and the environment.
- Fighting to have systems in place to ensure we use the safest and healthiest products possible.
- Making sure that if industry causes unsafe levels of pollution or chemical accidents, the public knows immediately, and the responsible party pays to clean it up
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Increasing government transparency to allow for better decision making and accountability.
Because of chemicals, humans have progressed in extraordinary ways.
However, the overuse and mismanagement of chemicals are causing significant long-term threats to a livable planet. Exposure to toxic chemicals can harm children, shorten life expectancy, and negatively affect the well-being of all living things for generations. Together with climate change and biodiversity loss, the mismanagement of chemicals is a significant obstacle to a livable planet.
LEARN MORE
New Chemicals Need Closer Scrutiny
EPA does not have reasonable assurance that the new chemicals review process is properly considering and addressing risks to public health and the environment. PEER is working to change that. Learn more»
EPA Scientists Punished for Identifying Chemical Risks
The Inspector General found EPA retaliated against scientists because they protested watering down risk assessments for new chemicals being approved for commercial release. Learn more»
Strengthening the Chemical Safety Board
The Chemicals Safety Board suffers from personnel issues, industry influence, and weak regulations. PEER works to strengthen this agency’s capacity to respond to accidents. Learn more»
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A SNAPSHOT OF PEER’S PAST EFFORTS
Here are some examples of how PEER has made a difference:
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Revealed that EPA had hidden thousands of industry reports from the public and their own scientists about the substantial health risks from chemicals already on the market. Our subsequent legal action caused EPA to post these reports once again.
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Identified the presence of PFAS, a toxic class of chemicals known as “forever chemicals,” in products such as plastic containers, fertilizers, pesticides, and artificial turf. We are working to get these products off the market and to promote safer alternatives.
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Helped to stop the use of radioactive phosphor-gypsum to build highways. This dangerous scheme was a big giveaway to the fertilizer industry over the objections of EPA’s staff experts.
PEER’S PERSPECTIVE
Reforming EPA’s New Chemicals Program
READ MORE NEWS ON PUBLIC HEALTH
EPA COVID-19 Guidance Sows Employee Confusion
Superfund Inspectors Unsure about PPE and Other Key Health Issues
PEERMail | Losing Our Voices
The Federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic is largely lead by non-scientists in the Offices of Public Affairs with public health officials used as props
PEER During the Pandemic (Updated Apr 10, 2020)
During the pandemic, PEER continues to support government whistleblowers, protect public employees, and represent epidemiologists at both the CDC and EPA.
Losing Our Voice: The Attack on Public Health Science
Politicians are leading our nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health experts and scienists, sidelined and ignored, have lost their voices.
Can National Parks Practice Social Distancing?
The still-unfolding pandemic has underlined the public health risks that national parks and refuges pose both to the visiting public and their own employees. How can national parks dedicated to attracting crowds operate in a new era of social distancing?
EPA Not on Emergency Footing
Extraneous Activities Undercut “Primary Mission Essential Function”
National Parks Epitomize Trump COVID Inconsistency
As more than 100 national park units have closed, hundreds more remain open in an uneven handling of COVID-19 by the Trump administration.
BLOG: COVID-19 Power Grab
Buried deep in the $2 trillion coronavirus bill, was a change in the tax code that “could result in $170 billion in tax breaks for real estate investors.”
