On January 27, 2021 President Biden issued a memorandum “Restoring Trust in Government Through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policy.” On February 9, 2021, an EPA Press Release announced that the Agency was removing the toxicity assessment for PFBS (perfluorobutanesulfonic acid) from its website.
Two paragraphs below are copied from the EPA Press Release:
“The [President Biden] memo further stipulates, “Improper political interference in the work of Federal scientists or other scientists who support the work of the Federal Government and in the communication of scientific facts undermines the welfare of the Nation, contributes to systemic inequities and injustices, and violates the trust that the public places in government to best serve its collective interests.”
“Science is the backbone of EPA and allows the agency to effectively pursue its mission to protect public health and the environment,” said senior career scientist Dr. Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development and the agency’s Acting Science Advisor. “Issuing documents, like the PFBS Toxicity Assessment, that include conclusions purporting to reflect science when in fact they are the product of biased political interference undermines the agency’s scientific integrity policy and erodes the trust that the American public has in EPA, the quality of our science, and our ability to protect their health and the environment.”
Link to EPA Press Release:
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-takes-action-protect-scientific-integrity
