Company tied to chemical industry guides regulatory agency

Report on compound, tied to reproductive damage, comes out this week.

By Marla Cone
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Sunday, March 04, 2007

For nearly a decade, a federal agency has been responsible for assessing the dangers that chemicals pose to reproductive health. But much of the agency's work has been conducted by a private consulting company that has close ties to the chemical industry.

In 1998, the Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction was established to assess the dangers of chemicals and help determine which ones should be regulated.

Sciences International, an Alexandria, Va., consulting company that has been funded by more than 50 industrial companies, has played a key role in the center's activities, reviewing the risks of chemicals, preparing reports, and helping select members of its scientific review panel and setting their agendas, according to government and company documents.

The center's work is considered important to public health because people are exposed to hundreds of chemicals that have been shown to skew the reproductive systems of newborn lab animals and could be causing similar damage in humans. Chemical companies and industry groups have staunchly opposed regulation of the compounds and have developed their own research.

The consulting firm produces the first draft of the center's reports on the risks of chemicals, including a new one on bisphenol A, a widely used compound in polycarbonate plastic food containers, including baby bottles, as well as lining for food cans, which has been linked to reproductive damage.

The report, which some say favors industry, is scheduled for review by the center's scientific panel Monday.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the environmental committee, and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the government oversight and reform committee, called last week for an explanation of the company's role and disclosure of potential conflicts of interest before the panel convenes.

Sciences International executives declined to comment, referring questions to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Michael Shelby, director of the federal reproductive health center, also declined to comment.

But Robin Mackar, spokeswoman for the institute, which oversees the center, said Sciences International "has worked for the center since 1998 without any problems" and has taken part in 17 chemical reports.

"These contractors have no decision-making or analytical responsibilities," she said.

But according to company and government Web sites and Federal Register documents, Sciences International is involved in management and plays a principal scientific investigatory role at the center.