OMB Completes Review of Proposal to Remove Saccharin from Hazardous Substances List

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has reportedly completed its review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposal to take saccharin off its list of hazardous substances and wastes. The action will apparently allow EPA to grant a six-year-old industry petition claiming that scientific data suggest the artificial sweetener is “not as harmful as once thought.” EPA, which is expected to seek public comment on its proposed de-listing in April 2010, has apparently found that the “current weight of scientific evidence supports the petitioner’s request.” The substance was placed on EPA’s list when it was created in 1980 because the Food and Drug Administration had previously determined that saccharin was a potential human carcinogen. The National Toxicology Program removed it from its own list of carcinogens in 2000. See InsideEPA.com, January 5 and March 10, 2010.