EPA’s illegal human experiments

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been sued in federal court for allegedly conducting illegal experiments on human beings. The case tests whether a government agency can violate the law and the most sacrosanct ethics of scientific research — and get away scot-free. Based on thousands of pages of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, since 2004 and continuing through the Obama administration, the EPA intentionally has been exposing dozens, if not hundreds, of human subjects to extraordinarily high levels of air pollutants such as diesel exhaust and fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5. The experiments occurred at an EPA facility located on the campus of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Many of the study subjects were health-impaired — suffering from asthma, metabolic syndrome, old age (up to 75 years) or, worse, combinations of those factors. They were all financially needy, since they enrolled in the experiments for compensation of $12 per hour. Since 1997, the EPA has regulated PM2.5, which is also a major component of diesel exhaust, on the basis that it kills people. In 2004, the EPA determined that PM2.5 could kill on a short-term basis — i.e., within hours or days of exposure. The EPA also determined in 2004 that there is no safe level of exposure to PM2.5. That is, any inhalation of PM2.5 can kill. EPA says health-impaired people and the elderly are most vulnerable to the effects of PM2.5. EPA also says the evidence is strong that PM2.5 and diesel exhaust cause cancer...EPA does more than just say bad things about PM2.5 and diesel exhaust. It has issued stringent multibillion-dollar regulations that limit emissions. In addition to setting national air quality standards, which EPA is in the process of tightening, the agency has issued many rules during the Obama administration, the two biggest being the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. EPA’s cost-benefit justification for both rules depends entirely on its condemnation of PM2.5 as a killer...At least three of the EPA researchers involved in these experiments are North Carolina-licensed physicians. The North Carolina Medical Board has opened an investigation. The University of North Carolina School of Medicine, which provided EPA with the required institutional review board for approving the experiments, has commenced its own inquiry. In contrast, the Obama-appointed Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has refused so far to get involved, despite multiple requests, claiming it already has a full agenda...more