Washington —- Buffeted by charges of mismanagement and conflicts of interest, the agency responsible for federal research on environmental causes of disease will be subjected to a "comprehensive" review of financial and ethical issues, the National Institutes of Health announced Tuesday.

NIH Director Elias Zerhouni said in a news release that he was ordering the review of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program in order to "help clarify the issues that have recently surfaced."

He said Dr. David Schwartz, who was appointed to head NIEHS in 2005, had agreed to temporarily step aside.

The announcement follows by less than two weeks a report by a NIEHS-appointed panel of 12 outside experts who declared they had found little cause for concern about the health effects of the hormone-mimicking chemical bisphenol A. The chemical is used to line soft drink cans and make plastic food containers.

The panel reviewed scientific studies selected by Sciences International, a consulting firm with a $5 million contract with NIEHS.

The firm was fired after an environmental advocacy organization, the Environmental Working Group, reported it had ties to Dow Chemical Corp., one of the world's largest producers of bisphenol A.

A different panel with no connection to NIEHS had earlier found "great cause for concern" that exposure of fetuses and newborns to the chemical may be responsible for a wide range of developmental problems.

In addition to the bisphenol A issue, NIEHS has come under criticism in the past several months over spending policies and Schwartz's management practices.

"Congress and others have raised important questions and concerns over the past few months, and we will be fully responsive," Zerhouni said.

In an e-mail, Schwartz told NIEHS employees that "although this development is personally painful, I am committed to a full and comprehensive review" and urged them to cooperate.

NIEHS is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up NIH.

In addition to biomedical research done by its own scientists on how environmental factors affect disease, the agency funds studies by independent researchers.

Although housed at NIEHS, the National Toxicology Program is a multi-agency office funded by NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/news/stories/2007/08/22/health0822.html

jill