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Members of the Science Advisory Board provide scientific advice to EPA leadership. For example, at a fall 2024 meeting<\/a>, they shared feedback on an EPA draft toxicological review of arsenic and commented on the agency\u2019s proposed approach to evaluating risks of exposure to multiple chemicals at once.<\/p>\n One of the new appointees, Jessica LaRocca, works for pesticide giant Corteva Agriscience<\/a>, and another, Matthew LeBaron, for Dow Chemical Company, which spun off its pesticide business but still produces<\/a> chemicals used in pesticide formulations. Two others, Shawn Gannon and Sean Uhl, work for Chemours, which makes products<\/a> with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Zeldin also appointed Gary Minsavage, a representative from ExxonMobil\u2019s biomedical division.<\/p>\n Most of the other 37 appointees are scientists affiliated with academic institutions, but the handful of industry representatives is a marked increase compared to the board\u2019s previous roster. Under President Joe Biden, EPA Administrator Michael Regan appointed 48 members<\/a>. Only one\u2014an employee of pesticide and seed giant Bayer\u2014represented the chemical industry.<\/p>\n \u201cReconstituting the Science Advisory Board will provide rigorous, independent, evidence-based, scientific advice consistent with its legal obligations to advance our core mission of protecting human health and the environment,\u201d Zeldin said in a press release.<\/p>\n However, when the agency first dismissed the board\u2019s previous members last year,\u00a0 environmental groups accused the EPA<\/a> of purging independent scientists and called it \u201ca dangerous step toward sidelining science in favor of political agendas.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n