(Washington, D.C. – March 25, 2009) EPA is releasing a new approach to advance the science upon which the agency bases its regulatory decisions and policies, resulting in better protection for human health and the environment. Today, EPA released the “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Strategic Plan for Evaluating the Toxicity of Chemicals.”
This strategic plan outlines a new scientific approach that will allow EPA to assess risks from many chemicals and mixtures by adopting new toxicity testing methods that use recent advances in molecular biology, genomics, and computational sciences.
When fully implemented, EPA will be able to screen thousands of environmental chemicals quickly for potentially harmful effects. The strategic plan will also allow EPA scientists to look at how children may react differently to the same chemicals as adults, thus providing better health protection for children.