Rolf U. Halden et al.

The FDA’s decades-long path to issuing a final rule, and the narrow scope of the September 2016 Final Rule (FDA 2016), indicate that existing regulatory practices are not sufficient to protect human and ecosystem health from adverse impacts of antimicrobial chemicals. Scientists from both academia and nonprofit organizations coauthored The Florence Statement in 2016 to share current scientific research on two widely used antimicrobial chemicals and to motivate broader consideration of the long-term impacts of antimicrobial use.