“The US non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer), which represents the four EPA whistleblowers, says they are concerned that this ban on communication with other specialists is hampering safety assessments of new chemicals before they are rushed to market.
‘In their disclosure, scientists recounted being reprimanded for reaching out to other employees for advice and confirmation of their work,’ Peer states, emphasizing that this issue is critical because the EPA’s new chemicals division does not have sufficient staff trained in key specialty areas involved in chemical risk assessment, such as inhalation toxicology, nanotechnology and cancer biology. Therefore, the organization says, the best way to fill in knowledge gaps is by consulting with other specialists.”
