Formaldehyde regulations could hurt Montana agriculture – Daily Montanan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Montana have had a long history. With the beautiful mountain ranges, thousands of rivers and creeks, and farmland that must be protected, it’s difficult to find a state that’s benefitted more from the EPA’s work.

For decades, the EPA has also overseen chemical review that has played a vital role for the state and its 27,000 farms and the farmers that service them. One of those chemicals is formaldehyde, which is used on thousands of farms in the state and for years has helped these farms maximize profits and thrive.

Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring chemical and is a critical chemical building block in the creation of a myriad of products whether it be the disinfectants that protect livestock, those that are used in veterinary medicine, or fertilizer that increases crop yield among others. The fact of the matter is that farms both in Montana and elsewhere around the country couldn’t operate without the use of formaldehyde.

It’s why the initial stages of the EPA’s assessment and eventual risk evaluation are such a worrying sign. The EPA is in the process of abandoning years of sound science to release a risk evaluation that would significantly overstate the danger of formaldehyde and set the country down the path of doing away with it entirely. The direction the EPA is headed would set a new precedent for the toxicity of formaldehyde, one that is less than one-hundredth of the standard set by OSHA.

Across the country, the impact of such a risk evaluation would be wide ranging and touch a myriad of sectors, like the automotive industry, the healthcare industry, the constructive and manufacturing industry, and as was previously mentioned, the agricultural industry. Formaldehyde and its related industries are worth more than $500 billion to the U.S. economy and help provide for just shy of one million jobs.

Across the country, farmers are spending just under that amount ($460 billion) caring for livestock and paying for crops. And in Montana, crops and livestock are valued at over $3 billion. With this much on invested in these farms, the EPA can’t afford to risk these farms bottom lines with a misguided move to drastically change long held guidance on formaldehyde.

This key chemical helps to significantly limit the losses that farmers already incur from diseases. As it stands, poultry producers lose $3.7 billion annually to disease and pork producers $1.7 billion. Formaldehyde’s use in these industries helps ensure that those numbers do not become higher in the years to come, hurting farmers, the economy, and the food supply chain.

Not to mention, the use of formaldehyde-based products helps to keep our state’s nearly $1.5 billion crop production industry running. It allows our farmers to get the best out of their crops, and ensuring they can continue to deliver for all of Montana and the American people.

The EPA still has time to correct course on this important issue. Should they continue down their current path, they are apt to set off a reaction that will impact numerous industries, hurt farmers nationwide, weaken the economy, and cost the U.S. jobs.

It’s extremely important that as they head into the next phase of their risk assessment that they use good science and trust decades of research, as well as global health organization guidance, about the safe levels of formaldehyde. It’s far too dangerous for the EPA to needlessly restrict formaldehyde.