The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR): Problems in the Past, Potential for the Future? Report by the Majority Staff of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives to Subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller, March 10, 2009
“Last April the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held a hearing on the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a sister agency of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The hearing looked at how the agency produced a scientifically flawed and misleading health consultation on the health hazards of potential formaldehyde exposures by survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita living in travel trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Last September the Subcommittee issued a detailed staff report on our investigation which found that: The leadership of ATSDR obfuscated their role in reviewing and approving the February 2007 health consultation and attempted to abdicate their own responsibility for the agencys fundamental failure to protect the publics health. Most disturbingly, as the agencys troubled response to the formaldehyde fiasco unraveled, the leadership of ATSDR attempted to shift blame for the inappropriate handling of the incident to others, primarily [whistleblower Dr. Chris] De Rosa and his staff. Unfortunately, the poor scientific integrity of ATSDRs formaldehyde health consultation and the weak leadership at the agency that permitted the production of this misleading report which went uncorrected for so long keeping the public in harms way for a year longer than necessary was not an isolated incident.”
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