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EPA and public-health officials outline chemical-review work and prevention priorities; military exemptions and paraquat under review
Summary
EPA described TSCA/FIFRA review processes, ongoing paraquat registration-review work and a recent data call on vapor-pressure data. Council members and agency representatives discussed prevention, TCE phase-out exemptions for certain military uses, and the need to track exposed populations and design studies that link exposures to Parkinson's outcomes.
Nancy Beck of the Environmental Protection Agency described the agency's chemicals and pesticides programs, outlining how chemicals are prioritized, risk-evaluated and, if necessary, moved to risk-management and rulemaking under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Beck said EPA relies on extensive literature reviews in registration reviews and noted current paraquat work: EPA has a registration-review process underway, reviewed ~113 studies submitted by an advocacy group in 2023, and issued a data call after a 2024 submission of higher vapor-pressure data that EPA said requires further testing by registrants.
A public member raised concerns about trichloroethylene (TCE) and a 10-year phase-out exception applied to Department of Defense uses. Leslie Beltran (representing the Defense Health Agency's congressionally directed medical research program) said programmatic decisions about DOD implementation will be made by program panels and that DOD has used critical-use exemptions and workplace protections; EPA reiterated that critical-use exemptions exist but said it also requires workplace controls and label mitigations where warranted.
Stephanie Herodopoulos from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health emphasized prevention, nutrition and environmental exposures as priorities for the Surgeon General’s office, noting interest in gut-microbiome research and life-course prevention strategies. She cited an economic cost estimate presented in the remarks (~$82.2 billion) and urged research to determine whether specific contaminants or cumulative exposures over a lifetime contribute to Parkinsonism, while cautioning that causation remains unproven and long-term studies are needed.
Speakers across agencies agreed on the need to improve study designs and data linkages (epidemiology, surveillance, environmental monitoring and wearable/digital technology) to better assess potential environmental contributions to Parkinson's and to identify prevention opportunities.
