Wikipedia

Michael Dourson

Michael L. Doursonis an Americantoxicologistand Director of Science at the nonprofit organization, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment. He was formerly a senior advisor to the Administrator of EPA, and prior to that, a professor at the Risk Science Center at theUniversity of Cincinnati College of Medicine.Prior to joining the University of Cincinnati, he was founder and president of the nonprofit Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment. Earlier in his career, he was employed by theEnvironmental Protection AgencyEnvironmental Criteria and Assessment Office, among other assignments.

Michael L. Dourson
Michael Dourson in 2017
Personal details
Residence(s)Cincinnati,Ohio
EducationPhD (1980)
Alma materWittenberg University
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
OccupationToxicologist

In July 2017, Dourson was nominated by PresidentDonald Trumpto become Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.[1]TheUnited States SenateCommittee on Environment and Public Worksvoted to advance his nomination on October 25, 2017.[2]Dourson withdrew his nomination on December 13, 2017.[3]

Career

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Dourson is board-certified by the American Board of Toxicology and a fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences and theSociety for Risk Analysis.He joined theEnvironmental Protection Agencyafter earning his doctorate in toxicology at theUniversity of Cincinnati College of Medicine.During his time at the EPA, Dourson was one of the founders of the agency's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), a program that identifies and characterizes the health hazards of chemicals in the environment. Dourson was awarded a total of four bronze medals for his work on IRIS, ambient water criteria, sewage sludge rulemaking, and developing risk methodology during his 15-year tenure with the agency. He also served as a member of EPA's Science Advisory Board for six years.[4]

Dourson worked in various roles in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Washington D.C. before founding the nonprofit Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) in 1995. TERA determines the risk profile of chemicals, and maintained the International Toxicity Estimates for Risk (ITER) database until TERA was invited by theUniversity of Cincinnatiin 2015 to join as a separate center within the Department of Environmental Health.[5]TheNational Institutes of Health(NIH) Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET) includes ITER in its list of reference databases for public use.[6]

TERA has collaborated with over 60 governmental organizations, industry groups, and nonprofits during its history,[7]but it has been criticized as a "one-stop shop" for industry-friendly research,[8]and University of Maryland law professor Rena Stenizor has accused TERA of "whitewashing the work of industry."[9]Notably, TERA has accepted payments for criticizing studies that raised concerns about the safety of products made by TERA's clients.[10]In 1997, TERA received funding to study the health effects of secondhand smoke from theCenter for Indoor Air Research,a tobacco-industry funded group.[9]For a fee, TERA will organize a peer-review panel for groups that want to have their studies displayed alongside governmental research in the ITER database, with past clients includingDow Chemical,Frito-Lay,and the International Copper Association.[9]As of 2014, about one-third of TERA's business came from assembling peer-review panels, and more than 50 percent of the peer-reviewed panels TERA has organized since its founding in 1995 were funded by industry groups, with Dourson himself sitting on 69 percent of the panels TERA has organized.[9]Dourson has stated that he views conflict-of-interest rules that prevent EPA scientists from receiving funding to attend industry events as an impediment to good science.[9]

In 2007, Dourson helped found theAlliance for Risk Assessment(ARA), an affiliate of TERA.[9]A close friend of Dourson, Michael Honeycutt, sat on the steering committee of ARA as well as heading the toxicology division at theTexas Commission on Environmental Quality(TCEQ), when TCEQ awarded TERA a $600,000 grant in 2005 to review TCEQ's chemical evaluations.[9]

In July 2024, Dourson emailed scientists, consultants, and lawyers with a proposal to develop and publish peer-reviewed science for chemical companies, governments, consultants, universities and NGOs who all attended an international workshop held in Washington DC[11]This was criticized as "not a valid approach to science" by Maria Doa of theEnvironmental Defense Fund,[8]although the publication of workshops is a routine scientific endeavor.

Publications

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As of 2014, 19 of the 33 studies Dourson had co-authored had been published in the academic journalRegulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology,of which Dourson is a member of the editorial board and which receives funding from industry groups includingDow AgroSciences,Proctor & Gamble,and theAmerican Chemistry Council.[9]

Dourson is also a writer of a series of books entitledEvidence of Faithwhich examine the intersection of historical analysis, science, such as astronomy and[12]evolutionandBiblehistory.[5]

Toxicology debates

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Dourson's organization TERA has studied many substances whose use has been the matter of public debate, includingchlorpyrifos(a pesticide),diacetyl(a food additive),ammonium perchlorate(a rocket fuel),1-bromopropane(an industrial solvent), andperfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)(a plastics production chemical). The determinations of safeoccupational exposure limits,safe water standards,threshold limit value,recommended exposure limitandsafe dosemay vary by a factor of ten, even among equally qualified investigators.[13]

In his 2017 confirmation hearings, Dourson was grilled about safe levels ofPFOAin drinking water.[14]The attack came amid the filing of 3,500 lawsuits over PFOA exposure.[15]In 2002, Dourson and two other TERA scientists had participated in a court-ordered ten-person panel to review existing research on PFOA.[16]Five members of the panel were government representatives and two fromDuPont.The panel found no history of illness or premature death in3Mor DuPont manufacturing workers since 1947.[16]It did find a heightened liver disease risk in animal models among other lesser risks.[16]The panel recommended a reduction in the allowable amount in drinking water to 150 ppb, a reduction from a DuPont-sponsored recommendation of 210 ppb.[16]The concentration of PFOA in theLubeck, West Virginiapublic water supply was at that time 1 ppb.[16]

In 2018, Dourson filed comments urging a "less stringent level" forPFOAand PFOS in response to a federal study,[17]and since that time has published 2 book chapters on PFAS chemistries, and in collaborations with other scientists written 7 papers, his efforts of which have been unfunded. Two papers have won paper of the year awards from the Society of Toxicology[18]

Failed nomination to EPA

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In July 2017, PresidentDonald Trumpnominated Dourson to become Assistant Administrator of theEnvironmental Protection Agency,Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. His nomination was sent to theUnited States Senateon July 19, 2017. His hearing before theUnited States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Workstook place on October 4, 2017.[19][20]Dourson's nomination was endorsed by the American Chemistry Council.[10]and many of his scientific and religious colleagues[21]

During the hearing, he was criticized by Democrats for his ties to the chemical industry. Dourson defended himself, saying he would commit to the law and the EPA's mission to protect the public and the environment from chemicals.[22]An October 2017New York Timeseditorial called Dourson a "scientist for hire" and said his nomination for an EPA post was "dangerous to public health."[23]During his Senate confirmation process, he responded privately in writing to accusations and these responses were sent to several US Senators. These responses have been made public.[24][25]

Dourson withdrew his nomination amid bipartisan opposition on December 13, 2017.[3]His nomination for Assistant Administrator of theEnvironmental Protection Agencywas not formally withdrawn by President Trump but was instead returned unconfirmed to the President by the US Senate on January 3, 2018, underStanding Rules of the United States Senate, Rule XXXI,paragraph 6.[26]

Awards

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Dourson was awarded the Arnold J. Lehman award from theSociety of Toxicologyand the International Achievement Award by the International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. He is a fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences and theSociety for Risk Analysis.[1]

References

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  1. ^ab"President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts".whitehouse.gov.July 17, 2017.Retrieved5 October2017– viaNational Archives.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  2. ^"U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works".U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.Retrieved3 November2017.
  3. ^abWolfgang, Ben (December 13, 2017)."Trump's pick for EPA chemical safety post withdraws amid bipartisan opposition: report".Washington Times.Retrieved9 December2019.
  4. ^"Linkedin profile Michael Dourson".LinkedIn.Retrieved3 November2017.
  5. ^abKaplan, Sheila (September 19, 2017)."Chemical Industry Ally Faces Critics in Bid for Top E.P.A. Post".New York Times.Retrieved27 September2017.
  6. ^"NIH Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET)".
  7. ^"2015 Annual Report"(PDF).Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA).Archived(PDF)from the original on 2024-04-18.Retrieved3 November2017.
  8. ^abPerkins, Tom (2024-08-27)."Scientists tied to chemical industry plan to derail PFAS rule on drinking water".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Archivedfrom the original on 2024-09-07.Retrieved2024-09-08.
  9. ^abcdefghAdams, Rosalind; Song, Lisa (2014-12-19)."One-stop science shop has become a favorite of industry—and Texas".Center for Public Integrity.Archivedfrom the original on 2024-09-05.Retrieved2024-09-08.
  10. ^ab"Trump's pick for chemical safety chief called 'voice of the chemical industry".The Guardian.Associated Press. September 20, 2017.Retrieved23 September2017.
  11. ^(https:// tera.org/Alliance%20for%20Risk/ARA_Dose-Response.htm,workshop XIV).
  12. ^(https:// amazon /s?k=michael+dourson&i=stripbooks&crid=TB33A5BRJT2Y&sprefix=michael+dourson%2Cstripbooks%2C152&ref=nb_sb_noss)
  13. ^Gaylor, D.W. (August 1995). "Quick estimate of the regulatory virtually safe dose based on the maximum tolerated dose for rodent bioassays".Regul Toxicol Pharmacol.22(1): 57–63.doi:10.1006/rtph.1995.1069.PMID7494904.
  14. ^Shesgreen, Deirdre (October 4, 2017)."Trump nominee from Cincinnati Michael Dourson grilled at Senate hearing: 'Corporate lackey' or good scientist?".USA Today.Retrieved22 January2018.
  15. ^Ward, Ken (July 8, 2016)."Jury awards $500,000 in punitive damages in C8 case".Charleston Gazette-Mail.Retrieved22 January2018.
  16. ^abcde"FINAL AMMONIUM PERFLUOROOCTANOATE (C8) ASSESSMENT OF TOXICITY TEAM (CATT) REPORT"(PDF).West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. August 2002.Retrieved22 January2018.
  17. ^Snider, Annie (2019-01-13)."Pentagon recruits rejected scientist for massive pollution fight".POLITICO.Retrieved2019-01-14.
  18. ^(https:// toxicology.org/groups/ss/RSESS/award-recipients/)
  19. ^"PN784".Senate.Retrieved24 September2017.
  20. ^"Committee Hearing/Meeting Schedule".U.S. Senate.Retrieved28 September2017.
  21. ^(https:// epa.gov/archive/epa/newsreleases/widespread-praise-dr-michael-dourson.html)
  22. ^Cama, Timothy (October 5, 2017)."Dems lambaste Trump's 'outrageous' EPA chemical safety pick".The Hill.Retrieved5 October2017.
  23. ^Editorial Board, The (October 17, 2017)."Opinion | Mr. Trump Outdoes Himself in Picking a Conflicted Regulator".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedDecember 14,2017.
  24. ^Risk Policy Report. "Dourson, Stalled EPA Toxics Nominee, Asks Trump To Withdraw Nomination." December 17, 2017.
  25. ^"Example of Collaborative Work in Environmental Risk Assessment by Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA)"(PDF).Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA).Archived(PDF)from the original on 2024-06-27.Retrieved2024-09-08.
  26. ^"PN784 — Michael Dourson — Environmental Protection Agency".U.S. Congress.January 3, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 11,2018.
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