Credit: Ralf Vetterle Pixabay

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April 2018 proposed relaxing standards related to how it assesses the effects of exposure to low levels of toxic chemicals on public health.

Now, correspondence obtained by the LA Times revealed just how deeply involved industry lobbyists and a controversial, industry-funded toxicologist were in drafting the federal agency’s proposal to scrap its current, protective approach to regulating toxin exposure.

The proposed change came just two weeks after a top EPA official contacted toxicologist Ed Calabrese, whose claim that low doses of carcinogens and radiation are healthy stressors akin to physical exercise that activate the body’s repair mechanisms has been panned by more mainstream researchers.

“I wanted to check to see if you might have some time in the next couple of days for a quick call to discuss a couple of items … ” EPA deputy assistant administrator Clint Woods wrote to Calabrese.

The EPA’s proposed regulation, signed by then-Administrator Scott Pruitt and published in