EPA Set to Lift Ban on Testing Toxic Chemicals on Humans

A storm of controversy is surrounding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to lift their ban on testing toxic chemicals on humans. The ban is expected to be removed by next year. Once it has been lifted chemical companies will be able to test insecticides, herbicides, and other toxic chemicals on people in order to receive safety approval from the EPA. Human testing is preferred by the industry as they produce results that are more favourable. Under a ruling known as the “inter-species rule” the EPA increases the results of toxicity tests conducted on animals by a factor of ten, however testing on humans allows companies to get round this rule.

SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by Citizens for Health (http://website.citizens.org) on the 21st August 2003.