Advice for a new administration to protect people from toxic chemicals

~ PRHE

First, they started the process of rolling back a Biden-era initiative to replace lead pipes. Then they took steps to delay a long-needed rule banning most uses of trichloroethylene (TCE), a chemical linked to cancer. These are just two moves the Trump Administration and Republican-led Congress made in their first weeks that expose people to more toxic chemicals and pollutants that make them sick.

Now, a group of scientists led by PRHE is releasing an updated roadmap for how the government should use best available science that is free of corporate capture to do a better job of protecting people from harmful chemicals and, as the new administration claims, to “make Americans healthy again.” These recommendations provide more detail on the Scientific Principles to Protect Public Health released by PRHE and partners in November 2024 to provide guideposts for the new administration to reduce rising trends in chronic disease resulting from exposure to harmful chemicals, plastics, and pollutants.

 

Government data is owned by taxpayers and essential to addressing health harms from polluting industries

Within days of taking office, the Trump administration removed data sets such as the Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool and EPA’s EJScreen, which help researchers and regulators identify communities that experience the highest burdens of toxic chemical and pollutant exposure. Having this data is essential to the administration’s stated goal of ‘Clean Air, Land, and Water for Every American’. Without this data, EPA cannot identify the most highly-impacted communities where people are more likely to be sick from chemical exposures.

Publicly accessible data can be incredibly powerful. For example, EPA formally determined that ethylene oxide (EtO) is carcinogenic to humans in 2016. Data made publicly available on concentrations of EtO in the air combined with the 2016 cancer risk estimate showed that communities were being exposed to excessive levels of this carcinogen, and empowered impacted communities and public health organizations to make a case for increased EtO regulation to prevent further harm. As a result, EPA announced new regulations that set stricter limits on EtO-emitting facilities, reducing lifetime cancer risk for people living near these polluting facilities.  

Ensure scientific integrity and remove corporate influence

Scientific integrity is a cornerstone to ensuring health is prioritized over industry profits. Scientific integrity is damaged when there is corporate, financial, and political influence manipulating the scientific process. At least five Executive Orders from the new Trump Administration mention restoring “the integrity of science, including by eliminating undue industry influence.” Yet this same administration has put chemical industry leaders in charge of chemical regulation.

At EPA, for example, executives from the chemical industry, including Dow, a major PFAS manufacturer, are now installed at the highest levels of the Agency. Putting industry leaders in charge of regulating products they were previously making increases conflicts of interest and fails to prioritize people’s health.

Promote best science and restore environmental justice

Essential to the new administration’s stated goal to make America healthy is for EPA to update its scientific methods to more accurately identify hazards and risks of chemicals and pollutants. EPA has not substantially updated key aspects of its methods since the 1970’s and often fails to account for real-world chemical exposures. 

Furthermore, the Trump Administration should reaffirm the importance of prioritizing communities that have the highest burdens of exposure, a key component of environmental justice, and allow the EPA to do its job of promoting healthy, thriving communities for all. This includes returning important environmental health data and tools to the EPA website and allocating additional resources to address harms for those most highly impacted.

Voters agree the government should do a better job of protecting people from harmful chemicals

In public opinion research conducted by Lake Research Partners on behalf of PRHE, we found that voters overwhelmingly agree that the government and companies should do a better job of ensuring the products we use every day are safe. This means we need to improve how we regulate harmful chemicals.

Our recommendations to accomplish this goal are outlined in five papers:

We urge the new administration to prioritize people’s health over corporate interests by following this roadmap to reduce chronic disease and make people healthier.

Authors: Abena BakenRa and the PRHE team

Abena BakenRa, MPH is a Science Associate working with the Science, Policy & Engagement team at PRHE. She manages the Science Action Network, assists with public commenting efforts, and leverages her expertise in public health to advance PRHE’s mission. She received her MPH from University of California, Berkeley, specializing in Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Published by PRHE

PRHE’s mission is to create a healthier environment for human reproduction and development through advancing scientific inquiry, clinical care and health policies that prevent exposures to harmful chemicals in our environment.