January 29, 2019

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Proposed Transparency Rule Threatens Health

Unprecedented times mandate novel collaborations: Harvard experts in the fields of medicine, law and environmental health have joined forces to share their concern about a new transparency rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Although it may sound valuable, this rule would in fact wreak havoc on the ability of government agencies to protect U.S. residents from environmental harms to human health,” write the authors in a new Annals of Internal Medicine Ideas and Opinions article. “If finalized and adopted, it would make ensuring that we have clean air, unpolluted water, and protection from environmental toxins far more difficult.”

The team that came together to encourage the medical community to join the discourse on the issue are:

  • Renee Salas, MD, MPH, MS, Emergency Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, Instructor at Harvard Medical School, Affiliated Faculty at the Harvard Global Health Institute (lead author)
  • Francine Laden, ScD, Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Wendy Jacobs, JD, Emmett Clinical Professor of Environmental Law and Director of the Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, Harvard Law School
  • Ashish K. Jha, M.D., MPH,  K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard University, Dean for Global Strategy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute