Turning Science into Action
People are exposed to increasing amounts of toxic chemicals in air, food, water, personal care and cleaning products, at home and at work. The problem is so large, we cannot protect ourselves with individual actions alone - we need policy change.
That's why we share the science and best scientific methods to inform and guide policies that protect people from harmful chemicals, particularly those who are especially vulnerable such as pregnant people and children, and those who are disproportionately impacted.
How to Strengthen EPA's Mission to Protect Health
To help EPA put science and public health front and center, PRHE collaborated with top scientists and chemical policy experts from around the country to develop evidence-based recommendations to improve hazard and risk assessment, and prevent harms from chemicals and pollutants.
Major Policy Areas
Chemicals and TSCA
We analyze federal chemical policy and EPA's implementation of the updated Toxic Substances Control Act, the law that governs regulations of chemicals in commerce.
Science Integrity
PRHE developed the Navigation Guide systematic review methodology to better evaluate the quality and strength of the evidence on how hazardous chemicals impact health.
Industry Documents
From lead and tobacco to hiding the truth about fossil fuels and climate, polluters have a long history of manipulating science and public opinion to maintain their corporate interests. We help gather these documents as part of UCSF's Industry Documents Library.
Policy Strategies
Public Comments
We monitor EPA and other regulatory body actions and comment on whether they are following the best science and protecting health. Public comments are essential to holding government agencies accountable.
Legislative Briefings
PRHE planned legislative briefings to inform policymakers and staff about issues related to implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act and science and decision making at EPA.
Science Action Network
PRHE launched the Science Action Network for Health and the Environment to bring together environmental health scientists to be a strong voice for science integrity and to prioritize health in chemical and environmental policy.
Published Papers
Research Funding
Recommendation: EPA must invest in research and workforce training to ensure it has the right and best science for decision-making and that its workforce keeps pace with current scientific advances in order to ensure that its regulatory decision-making is evidence-based.
Data Infrastructure
Recommendation: EPA must invest in systems to support collecting, organizing and making accessible environmental and health data that allow the Agency and the public to understand, monitor and act on environmental factors that influence health, resulting in more equitable public health safeguards.
Environmental Justice
Recommendation: We must adopt environmental justice principles in chemical policymaking and implement environmental statutes as Congress intended to fundamentally transform chemical policy to address health disparities from harmful chemicals.
Conflicts of Interest
Recommendation: To reduce biased findings, financial conflicts of interest from industry funding in environmental health research as well as industry ties on EPA advisory committees should be eliminated to the extent possible.
Systematic Review
RECOMMENDATION: To ensure EPA is making decisions based on the best available science, EPA must implement a science-based, validated systematic review method to inform policy and decision-making to save lives and money.
Chemical Policy
Recommendation: EPA must use the most scientifically up-to-date approaches to evaluate the hazards and risks of industrial chemicals and environmental pollutants that inform decision-making to protect public health.
Executive Summary
It is time to put science and public health front and center at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure that the most significant and pervasive threats to health from harmful chemical exposures are properly addressed. There have long been serious problems with using the best science to inform chemical policy in the United States. Changes to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 2016 attempted to address these problems; however, the current administration’s implementation of TSCA illustrates how the changes fall short.