When Research Can't Be Trusted

Here is a blatant example of conflict of interest if I ever saw one.

A U.S. center that evaluates health risks from chemicals has suspended a partnership with a Virginia research contractor that also works for chemical makers.

The Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction, based in Research Triangle Park, made its "stop work" decision after a nonprofit group alerted federal officials and members of Congress that the contractor had potential conflicts involving the chemical industry.

It seems Sciences International, Inc. provides scientific and administrative support for chemical risk assessments while at the same time working for the companies that produce said chemicals.

The center employs Sciences International Inc. to provide scientific and administrative support for its chemical risk assessments. The federal government agreed to pay $4.3 million to Sciences International from 2003 to 2007 for its work. Recently, the company was helping the center assess whether bisphenol-A (BPA) harms human reproduction or development.

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Findings by the evaluation center are important to people and to industry because they can influence how the federal government regulates specific chemicals.

Dow Chemical and Union Carbide are both listed as past or present BPA makers.  Dow Chemical and Union Carbide are also customers of Sciences International, Inc

If the research to see if chemicals are harmful is being performed by those who benefit because of those chemicals, can we really trust the results of the research?