Dear EPA Administrator Jackson, USEPA, and Collaborative U.S. Agencies:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tests chemicals for their capacity to act as endocrine disruptors. This is a good idea. Some chemicals disturb hormone function, potentially damaging animal growth and reproduction.

EPA chemical screens will also kill 80,000 animals over a span of years. This is a bad idea. I urge EPA to update its protocols. Some tests — like lethal dose 50% to measure how much chemical kills half the animals dosed with it — date back to the 1920s! Draize tests from the 1940s still drip toxins into a rabbit’s clipped-open eyes or smear corrosives on shaved skin to assess eye-skin irritation.

Please replace old-fashioned animal models with human-focused research tools for EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP).

Reactivity assays can gauge endocrine disruptors and reproductive toxicity — without subjecting tens of thousands of animals to pain and death. In fact, EPA has already invested millions in development of these "innovative methods" for its Computational Toxicology Research Program, ToxCast. EPA recognizes "quantitative high-throughput screening (qHTS) assays" as key in the evaluation of toxic pathways. It cites published research about the efficacy of animal-free assays.

Yet rather than embrace its own program, EPA has turned down 90 percent of pesticide company requests to utilize ToxCast in vitro tests in place of animals. The agency prefers to duplicate the same old animal tests in what amounts to an enormous waste of time and money. Animal experimentation is unlikely to help EPA safeguard humans or the environment.

Please let chemical testers use ToxCast to screen for endocrine disruption. If nothing else, ToxCast should rank chemicals according to significance and cut animal use to a bare minimum. Starting now.

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email addresses only

jackson.lisap@epa.gov, ellis.heidi@epa.gov, anastas.paul@epa.gov, webcenter@niehs.nih.gov, birnbaumls@niehs.nih.gov, bucher@niehs.nih.gov, niceatm@niehs.nih.gov, austinc@mail.nih.gov

full contact information

Lisa P. Jackson, EPA Administrator Environmental Protection Agency Ariel Rios Building 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460 ph: 202-564-4700; 202-272-0167 email: jackson.lisap@epa.gov SOURCE: www.epa.gov/aboutepa/postal.html blog.epa.gov/administrator/contact-us/ Heidi Ellis, USEPA Headquarters Ariel Rios Building / Mail Code: 1101A 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W. Washington, DC 20460 ph: 202-564-3204 email: ellis.heidi@epa.gov SOURCE: cfpub.epa.gov/locator/index.cfm Paul Anastas, Ph.D., Assistant Administrator, Office of Research & Development, EPA Science Advisor Office of Research and Development of the U.S. EPA USEPA Headquarters Ariel Rios Building / Mail Code: 8101R 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W. Washington, DC 20460 ph: 202-564-6620 email: anastas.paul@epa.gov website: www.epa.gov/research/index.htm SOURCE: www.epa.gov/ord/htm/comments.htm cfpub.epa.gov/locator/index.cfm National Toxicology Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences P.O. Box 12233, MD K3-16 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina USA 27709-2233 Office of Communications & Public Liaison: 919-541-3345 fax: 919-541-4395 general email: webcenter@niehs.nih.gov website: www.epa.gov/research/index.htm SOURCE: niehs.nih.gov/about/od/ocpl/contact/index.cfm niehs.nih.gov/about/od/index.cfm

Linda S. Birnbaum, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., A.T.S. Director, NIEHS & NTP P.O. Box 12233 Mail Drop B2-01 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709 ph: 919-541-3201 fax: 919-541-2260 email: birnbaumls@niehs.nih.gov SOURCE: niehs.nih.gov/about/od/director/index.cfml John R. Bucher, Ph.D., Associate Director, NTP P.O. Box 12233 Mail Drop K2-02 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709 ph: 919-541-4532 fax: 919-541-4255 email: bucher@niehs.nih.gov SOURCE: niehs.nih.gov/about/od/ontp/index.cfm National Toxicology Program Interagency Ctr for Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) William S. Stokes, D.V.M., DACLAM, ICCVAM Executive Director & NICEATM Director P.O. Box 12233, MD K2-16 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 ph: 919-541-2384 email: niceatm@niehs.nih.gov SOURCE: iccvam.niehs.nih.gov/about/about_NICEATM.htm NIH Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC) of the National Human Genomics Research Institute Christopher P. Austin, M.D., Director, NIH Chemical Genomics Center NIH Chemical Genomics Center 9800 Medical Center Drive Rockville, MD 20850 ph: 301-217-5725 fax: 301-217-5736 email: austinc@mail.nih.gov SOURCE: ncgc.nih.gov/about/caustin.html

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