EPA approved fuel ingredient with sky-high lifetime cancer risk, document reveals

Chevron component approved even though it could cause cancer in virtually every person exposed over a lifetime

• This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power

The Environmental Protection Agency approved a component of boat fuel made from discarded plastic that the agency's own risk formula determined was so hazardous, everyone exposed to the substance continually over a lifetime would be expected to develop cancer.

Current and former EPA scientists said that threat level is unheard of. It is a million times higher than what the agency usually considers acceptable for new chemicals and six times worse than the risk of lung cancer from a lifetime of smoking.