Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Quoted by NBC News Regarding Changes to EPA’s New Chemical Assessments
On January 17, 2018, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Senior Chemist at Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), was quoted by NBC News in the article “EPA eases path for new chemicals, raising fears of health hazards.”
The EPA’s new approach is likely to reduce the testing that manufacturers who first bring these new chemicals to market are required to do. Using significant new-use rules (SNURs) “reduces the testing that the EPA is seeking to impose, because testing is rarely required in a SNUR,” said Richard Engler, a former EPA scientist who now works for Bergeson & Campbell, a law firm that represents chemical manufacturers. “If someone is of the view that every consent order should have testing in it, then yes, switching to SNURs is going to produce less data,” Engler said, though he believes EPA’s new approach will be just as protective.