Regulatory Update – NACD Signs Industry Letter to HHS on Formaldehyde and Risk Assessments Along with 20 other associations, NACD signed a letter that was sent last week to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius requesting her to commission the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a definitive study on the alleged link between formaldehyde exposure and leukemia. The request is driven by the need to settle the scientific controversy that has arisen since the National Toxicology Program (NTP) earlier this year issued a substance profile that asserts formaldehyde is a “known human carcinogen.” The NTP’s action contradicts the findings and conclusions of an NAS committee’s independent scientific review of a draft formaldehyde Integrated Risk Information System assessment from the Environmental Protection Agency. “While we recognize that the NTP believes the NAS committee’s review is of limited applicability to its own formaldehyde evaluation, the fact that different federal agencies and bodies have issued differing pronouncements is leading to unnecessary public anxiety and significant, negative commercial consequences for the numerous uses and applications of this important chemical,” stated NACD and the others in the letter.