What does the chemical spill from the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment, Florida’s red tide, and chemicals in household cleaning products have in common? They all rely on EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to figure out how toxic they are and how they harm your health and the environment. Now the new administration … Continue reading They are shutting down EPA’s science.
Thousands of previously internal industry documents called the “Poison Papers” are now freely available for public review and research in University of California, San Francisco’s Industry Documents Library (IDL). The “Poison Papers” include approximately 5,000 digitized copies of materials gathered primarily by Carol Van Strum, who reportedly collected over 100,000 documents from her battles with … Continue reading “Poison Papers” documents now at UCSF Library
Have you heard of a P30 Environmental Health Center? There are 26 of them in the U.S. funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences to investigate the health impacts of air and water pollution, chemicals in everyday products, microplastics, and other ways contaminants put into our environment affect people. These centers have been … Continue reading Environmental health research is essential to tackle skyrocketing chronic disease
You may not be familiar with the toxic chemical 1,3-butadiene, but it’s everywhere. The U.S. chemical industry makes and uses enormous quantities of it every year—from 1 to 5 billion pounds. It’s used to make materials like synthetic rubber and plastics. EPA’s evaluation of 1,3-butadiene under the Toxics Substances Control Act (TSCA) found that this … Continue reading EPA’s deficient evaluation of the carcinogen 1,3-butadiene leaves the public at risk
Right now, Congress is considering overturning an EPA rule that would stop people in the U.S. from getting cancer, birth defects and Parkinson's disease from a toxic chemical that has already poisoned millions of Americans, including our soldiers. TCE (trichloroethylene) is a highly toxic solvent linked to serious health harms, even at very low … Continue reading The chemical industry wants to block a new EPA rule protecting people from cancer-causing TCE – and Congress may help them
Our goal is to get toxins out of the environment, poisons out of our food supply, and keep our children healthy and strong.” – President Trump during his State of the Union address, March 4, 2025 We agree. This is a goal we have been working toward since our inception. However, while this administration says … Continue reading 10 ways the Trump administration is “making America toxic again”
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 … Continue reading Advice for a new administration to protect people from toxic chemicals
As rising chronic disease trends are driven, in part, by exposures to harmful chemicals, pollutants, and plastics, a team of more than 30 environmental health experts led by scientists at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) developed the first decision-making framework for environmental health that prioritizes prevention rather than continuing to allow environmental harms that … Continue reading Scientists launch new tool to prioritize people’s health in government decision-making
In response to an alarming rise in chronic disease fueled, in part, by exposure to fossil fuels, chemicals, plastics, tobacco, and ultra processed food, the new Center to End Corporate Harm launched at UCSF last week with a panel featuring some of the scientists leading the new initiative. The following are excerpts from the panel … Continue reading Holding industry to account for health harms
Dr. Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, professor and director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and the EaRTH Center at UCSF issued the following statement today upon Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services. We face an epidemic of chronic disease fueled by industrial polluters including the chemical, … Continue reading Statement on RFK Jr Confirmation to HHS Secretary
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