NTP / Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT)

The audit

Who controls it

NTP is a U.S. federal interagency program, and OHAT within NIEHS conducts systematic literature reviews. Federal scientists and program leaders conduct assessments with public input and external scientific peer review; the reviewed materials did not establish that industry representatives or political appointees control individual assessments.

Money

NTP/OHAT-specific total funding was unverified, and no program-specific industry fee, sponsor, or donor revenue was identified. NIEHS-wide appropriations were not used as a substitute for program-level funding.

Conflict rules

NTP publication standards describe open peer review, public records, declarations, recusal for conflicts, and annual financial disclosures for federal staff. OHAT collects study-funding and conflict information and considers it in evidence interpretation and publication-bias review, not as a standalone risk-of-bias rating for each study.

Method

OHAT uses prespecified methods for searching, screening, extracting, assessing study limitations, integrating evidence, public input, and external peer review. Its framework separates hazard identification from a Level of Concern conclusion, which can include exposure and information on how chemicals move through the body.

Dates on its pages

The current OHAT handbook page was updated 17 March 2026, while the detailed handbook reviewed was the 2019 edition described as a living methods document; individual reports and protocols have their own dates.

Political exposure

FY2026 advisory reports said the NTP Board's planned 7 November 2025 meeting did not occur, and member extensions ended 27 December 2025, leaving no active membership after year-end and no FY2026 meetings or recommendations. A separate oxybenzone peer-review meeting planned for 1 December 2025 was canceled and could not be rescheduled; these records show interrupted oversight and review, not changed scientific content.

Money exposure

No NTP/OHAT-specific industry funding, sponsor, or donor influence was verified. OHAT considers funding and conflict disclosures when interpreting the evidence base, but they are not a standalone individual-study rating, so no identified program funding stream does not establish that every included study is conflict-free.

Track record

NTP's glyphosate topic page lists completed laboratory studies in which some formulations caused DNA-damage or oxidative-stress responses in cell assays, while glyphosate alone did not show the same effects at the tested concentrations; these are laboratory findings, not consumer-exposure estimates. A male-reproduction protocol was revised 30 May 2026, but a completed report was not listed on the reviewed topic page, so publication status was not verified. This limited review identified no NTP/OHAT correction, retraction, or pregnancy- or breastfeeding-specific major error episode.

Where this comes from

• OHAT handbook
• NTP publication standards
• Current OHAT handbook page
• FY2026 NTP Board report
• NTP glyphosate topic
• 2026 male-reproduction protocol