Ohio Court & "Expert" Opinions

by: John Long, Ph.D.

In July of 2006, the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed lower court rulings that held that rules of evidence governing "expert witnesses" precludes testimony about an alleged cancer resulting from chemical exposures where no studies are cited to demonstrate a causal effect between the exposure and the cancer.

At trial in county court, testimony was presented from doctors and an industrial hygienist suggesting some undefined relationship between the employee's work and the rare brain cancer that he developed. However, the county court rejected the testimony as not meeting the standards for expert witnesses - and issued a summary judgment in favor of the company (PPG).

The written majority opinion of the Court included the following: "Expert opinion based on unscientific principles and methodology is unhelpful to the trier of fact, and has no place in the courts of law." It was apparent that none of the so-called expert witnesses cited any scientific studies that provided evidence of a causal connection between the employee's work and his brain cancer.

PPG is to be commended for its substantial effort to defend the principle of good science in the courtroom.

Cost of Arsenic Compliance

by: John Long, Ph.D.

The headline in the January 22nd (2007) issue of the Columbus Dispatch (p. B7) speaks volumes: " 3 Ohio cities paying high price to cut arsenic levels in water".   New federal limits on how much arsenic can exist in public water supplies have sent treatment costs soaring in some communities.  It has been estimated that 4,100 public water systems across the country were in violation of the standard that was recently lowered from 50 parts per billion to 10 ppb.

Middlefield, a community of 2,400 not far from Cleveland, is spending $7.4 million to drop the arsenic level from 12 ppb to meet the new standard. The Geauga Count Health Commissioner, Bob Weisdack, was quoted as saying "Is the juice worth the squeeze, or are we regulating just to regulate." The consensus seems to be that the EPA may have underestimated compliance costs, anticipating that the national cost of compliance would be $3.62 billion over 20 years. Contrast this with the figures from the American Water Works Association Research Foundation, which pegged the actual cost closer to their initial estimate of $4.6 billion to $21.5 billion over 20 years. 

For the responsible chemist, there are two primary issues:

1) Given the degree of analytical uncertainty and the extreme levels of data measurement, how much difference really exists between 12 ppb and 10 ppb ?  And how much is Public Health affected by this difference ?

2) Does gaining a few ppb in the arsenic level justify millions of dollars of expense, or are there better ways to spend money to protect the public ?

Similar questions have been raised about the action in some states to put limits on perchlorate exposure at one ppb, especially when, like arsenic, perchlorate has been shown to occur naturally in various environments.  It is incumbent upon all scientists to be engaged in issues like this in order to ensure that regulatory policy is responsibly built upon good science.

Perchlorate Fireworks

by: John Long, Ph.D.

Regular visitors to VanishingZero are probably aware of the concern expressed by many toxicologists and other scientists over attempts to regulate perchlorate, a naturally occurring environmental constituent, to levels below those required for environmental arsenic.  This despite that fact that there have been no reliable data found to connect trace (parts per billion) perchlorate exposures to any public health event or incident.  In the view of many, the perchlorate debate has evolved into a political issue that in some quarters is being pressed at the expense of the use of sound science in determining public policy.  A recent note in the October 2006 issue of  "Mainstream," published by the American Water Works Association demonstrates a consequence of the mindest "If you can detect it, you should regulate it." Titled "Perchlorate Fears Douse Fireworks," the front-page blurb said the following:

"Massachusetts' adoption of a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 2 ppb for perchlorate in late July apparently doused plans for fireworks at the annual Harwich Cranberry Festival on Cape Cod in September.

Perchlorate, a chemical that disrupts thyroid functions, is used as a propellant for fireworks and persists in water for decades.

Raising concerns about contamination of the aquifer used for the city's water supply, water commissioners would have asked the festival for a $10 million bond for caonamination cleanup, but Harwich selectmen voted to ban any perchlorate-based fireworks displays in the aquifer's recharge area.

The fireworks company offered to switch to a nitrates-based display but then found its insurance company wouldn't cover environmental contamination."

National Geographic Looks at Toxics

by: John Long, Ph.D.

The October 2006 issue of National Geographic deals with a personal view of chemical exposure in everyday life. In an article titled The Pollution Within, the author, David Ewing Duncan, cronicles the comprehensive survey of his daily interaction with (mostly) man-made chemicals in a wide range of venues, including air travel. He was tested for 320 chemicals that he might have picked up from food, drink and air, as well as products that touch the skin.  The results give one pause for thought, and complicate the perception that while health statistics have been improving for decades, the rates of occurrence of some illnesses have been rising significantly.

In the article, particular mention is made of the fact that until recently, no one had even measured average levels of exposure among large numbers of Americans because no regulations required it and the technology needed to measure the "tiniest" levels didn't exist.

The article did acknowledge that the realm in which many of these analytes were being detected was extraordinarily low. One toxicologist was quoted as saying:  "In toxicology, dose is everything, and these doses are too low to be dangerous."  One part per billion, considered the standard unit for measuring most chemicals inside the body, is like putting half a teaspoon of red dye into an Olympic-size swimming pool. In addition, some of the most feared substances, such as mercury, dissipate within days or weeks if the body weren't constantly re-exposed.

Many chemical species were not included in the test regimen for various reasons including practicality. For inquiring minds who have been tuned into the mission of the VanishingZero site, these omissions included various solvents, plastics, and "a rocket-fuel ingredient called perchlorate," exposure to which has been defined by informed toxicologists as safe for the U.S. population to levels of at least 200 ppb.

Biotech Sanity in California

by: John Long, Ph.D.

We are pleased when we are able to post the insights of Dr. Henry Miller, physician, molecular biologist, and fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of "The Frankenfood Myth." Dr. Miller headed the FDA's office of biotechnology from 1989 to 1993.   In this post, Dr. Miller describes recent proposed legislative action in California that would give genetically enhanced plant products and technologies a level playing field upon which to articulate their virtues. 

Dr. Miller's complete editorial follows.

Continue reading "Biotech Sanity in California"

Expert Witness Court Test in Oho

by: John Long, Ph.D.

The Ohio Supreme Court recently issued a 4-3 decision that affirmed lower court rulings that held that rules of evidence governing "expert witnesses" can preclude testimony about an alleged cancer resulting from chemical exposures where no studies are cited to demonstrate a causal effect between the exposure and the cancer.

In the case at hand, the family of an employee at PPG Industries alleged that workplace exposure to chemicals for some 30 years was responsible for a very rare form of brain cancer. At trial in county court, the family's attorney presented testimony from doctors and an industrial hygienist. That testimony suggested some undefined relationship between the employee's work and the cancer he developed. However, the county court rejected the testimony as not meeting the standards for expert witnesses - and issued a summary judgment in favor of PPG.

A majority court  opinion stated that "Expert opinion based on unscientific principles and methodology is unhelpful to the trier of fact and has no place in courts of law," and that none of the so-called expert witnesses in the case at hand cited any scientific studies that provided evidence of a causal connection between the employee's work at PPG and the brain cancer.

This decision was cited as support for the principle that "expert" testimony must meet standards of scientific validity and quality, and that PPG was to be commended for defending the principle of good science in the courtroom.

News Bits

by: John Long, Ph.D.

The wire services occasionally offer some interesting chemical information to ponder, to wit:

1) Benzene -  The FDA is speculating that changes in analytical methods may be the cause for recent results showing low levels of benzene in some drinks. In the past, the FDA protocol allowed heating of samples to 100 deg C for thirty minutes, conditions which may favor decarboxylation of benzoic acid to form traces of benzene. Products having ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate as ingredients may have been affected.

2) Perchlorate - There has been a report that the presence of traces of perchlorate has been confirmed in some vitamins.  While the source is uncertain, one possibility is seaweed - which has long been known to be rich in iodide, possibly collected by a mechanism that is capable of concentrating naturally occurring perchlorate as well. 

Mother Earth Exposed ?

by: John Long, Ph.D.

The July, 2006 issue of The Scientist magazine of the life sciences features an article by Lee Silver that offers a novel perspective on "...the truth modern people don't want to hear: Mother Nature can be a nasty bitch." This analysis of the harsher realities of life on Planet Earth and the improbable vision of "ecosystem serenity" impacts a wide range of philosophical premises. Chief among these is the problematic idea that Mother Nature is always good, therefore human interference is bad. This "interference" may take the form of genetic modification, for example, a life-changing technology inconsistent with earth-mother sensibility. The magazine editor notes correctly that excluding the possibilities offered by advanced technology leaves no place for evidence, rationality or skepticism. For much more, visit www.the-scientist.com.   

Risk Guidelines Under Fire

by: John Long, Ph.D.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed a plan for standardizing risk assessments across the U.S. government, an idea that has considerable merit but could be manifested in various negative ways, according to some agency representatives.  The original OMB draft bulletin was designed to set minimum standards for the scientific quality of federal agency assessments of risk to human health, safety, or the environment. Areas affected include regulation of pollutants, approval of new pharmaceuticals, and development of safety systems for chemical plants. A June 5, 2006 article in C&E News (www.cen-online.org) suggests that the primary target of this directive is the EPA. The most notable example of what many consider to be an issue politicized on all sides has been the determination of a preliminary drinking water standard for perchlorate. The involvement of the NRC in the debate helped find a compromise, but the issue of whether sound science received a fair hearing on all sides remains contentious.  More on the potential effects on public health policy is presented in C&E News.

Perchlorate Book from Legal Group

by: John Long, Ph.D.

A new book on Perchlorate issues is available from the Lawyers and Judges Publishing Co. (Tucson, AZ,  520-323-1500;  sales@lawyersandjudges.com) -  Perchlorate: A Scientific, Legal, and Economical Assessment, by Earl L. Hagstrom. The book is designed to educate and inform environmental, business, legal, and academic readers about the history and development issues surrounding perchlorate.  It should afford much needed practical advice and guidance to anyone involved with litigation and remediation issues.  Part of the impact of this book  comes from the fact that the process of establishing a federal drinking water standard for perchlorate has been fraught with complications, not the least of which is the fact that perchlorate is a naturally occurring species.  This book is also intended as a primer on how to address common issues  with any pollutant, ranging from estimating damages to remediation to insurance coverage.   [ISBN 1-930056-84-2]  480 pages, $99.   More review comments follow.

Continue reading "Perchlorate Book from Legal Group"