Trump administration strikes undercut RFK Jr.’s MAHA agenda on poisonous chemical compounds : Photographs

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1024x683+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F77%2F4a%2Fa0351067430d95c9e59afb3d35d5%2Fgettyimages-2210921325.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1024x683+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F77%2F4a%2Fa0351067430d95c9e59afb3d35d5%2Fgettyimages-2210921325.jpg" class="img" alt="WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES - APRIL 22: Make America Healthy Again hats are given out at a news conference on removing synthetic dyes from America's food supply, at the Health and Human Services Headquarters in Washington, DC on April 22, 2025. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)" fetchpriority="high"/> RFK Jr.'s Make America Wholesome Once more agenda proposes to do away with toxins within the atmosphere and meals provide. However the Trump administration is chopping again sources and laws wanted to attain that. Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Photos cover caption

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Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Photos It was a surreal second for Susanne Brander.

She was sitting within the viewers at a convention in April as Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke in regards to the well being results of publicity to dangerous chemical compounds in our meals, air and water.

As she listened, Kennedy cited current analysis on microplastics from researchers in Oregon, discovering these tiny particles had proven up in 99% of the seafood they sampled.

"It was positively our research," says Brander, an ecotoxicologist at Oregon State College who coauthored the analysis together with a workforce at Portland State College.

The issue was, simply an hour earlier whereas in line for breakfast, an electronic mail had popped into her inbox notifying her {that a} federal grant she'd relied on to fund her analysis for years — from the Environmental Safety Company — was being terminated.

Her analysis, the letter defined, now not aligned with the company's priorities. And now right here was the usual bearer of the Trump administration's Make America Wholesome Once more, or MAHA, agenda elevating her work.

"I used to be baffled and extremely annoyed," she remembers. "It seems like they're selling the sector whereas ripping out the muse.

Kennedy and the MAHA motion's rise to energy is disorienting for scientists and advocates in environmental well being who're targeted on human publicity to poisonous chemical compounds and environmental pollution.

The analysis group has lengthy warned of troubling hyperlinks to persistent illness, particularly for youngsters and have referred to as for extra authorities oversight of the plastic, fossil gas and chemical industries. Now Kennedy is now bringing consideration to the difficulty as well being secretary.

And but within the first 5 months, the Trump administration has made strikes that run counter to those very targets.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1495x1196+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9a%2F70%2Fc63760af41309bee6b1a308e5f10%2Fkennedy-hhs.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1495x1196+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9a%2F70%2Fc63760af41309bee6b1a308e5f10%2Fkennedy-hhs.jpg" class="img" alt="Health Secretary Kennedy speaks at the Chemicals of Concern policy summit in Charlotte, N.C. in April." loading="lazy"/> Well being Secretary Kennedy speaks on the Chemical substances of Concern coverage summit in Charlotte, N.C. in April. HHS/screenshot by NPR cover caption

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HHS/screenshot by NPR "It is an infinite contradiction in actions," says Thomas Burke, a former EPA official who directs the Johns Hopkins Threat Sciences and Public Coverage Institute.

The firings and downsizing of the federal workforce have disrupted groups that examine poisonous substances and pollution. Broad cuts to federally-funded analysis have imperiled related scientific work. And regulators are weakening safeguards that restrict air pollution and different poisonous chemical compounds.

Dr. Philip Landrigan, a number one determine in environmental well being analysis, says the disconnect was underscored when the administration launched the MAHA Report final month, overseen by Kennedy and different cupboard members, together with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

That doc (which has come beneath scrutiny for inaccurate or non-existent citations), positions the difficulty of environmental toxins and chemical compounds as a key precedence for tackling persistent illness in kids, together with weight loss program, bodily exercise, expertise use and what it phrases "overmedicalization."

Studying it, Landrigan says he could not assist however take into consideration the widespread harm the Trump administration is inflicting on the very businesses and scientific group with the "experience, expertise and know-how to guard kids towards these hazards."

"You possibly can't say one factor and do one other," says Sue Fenton, who directs the Middle for Human Well being and the Surroundings at NC State College, contrasting the administration's rhetoric about clear water and air with its actions.

Yanked grants, cuts to employees Examples of the contradictions aren't laborious to search out.

Cuts to the federal workforce beneath Kennedy's watch have hobbled NIOSH, the Nationwide Institute for Occupational Security and Well being, which responds to poisonous chemical compounds and pollution within the office.

The administration eradicated most of a division on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention that investigated environmental hazards like heavy metals, air air pollution and carcinogens, throughout a spherical of layoffs. Although many of those employees have been reinstated simply final week, President Trump's proposed funds requires axing the CDC middle the place the division is housed.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1024x683+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc6%2F79%2Ffe2cf4f74242a37ed656ec0c2f30%2Fgettyimages-2216566837.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1024x683+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc6%2F79%2Ffe2cf4f74242a37ed656ec0c2f30%2Fgettyimages-2216566837.jpg" class="img" alt="U.S. President Donald Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon at an event announcing the release of Make America Healthy Again Commission report in the East Room of the White House on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Also in attendance were several other members of Trump's cabinet who served on the commission including Lee Zeldin, who heads the Environmental Protection Agency." loading="lazy"/> President Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Schooling Secretary Linda McMahon at an occasion saying the discharge of Make America Wholesome Once more Fee report within the East Room of the White Home on Could 22, 2025. Additionally in attendance have been a number of different members of Trump's cupboard who served on the fee together with EPA head Lee Zeldin. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Photos cover caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Photos The Nationwide Institutes for Well being, which is beneath Kennedy's command, has shuttered its flagship journal on environmental well being and yanked analysis grants. As an illustration, Ami Zota, an environmental well being scientist at Columbia College, had all 4 of her NIH grants canceled, although she was taking a look at chemical publicity in client merchandise and monitoring how PFAS chemical compounds have an effect on girls's well being, from being pregnant by means of midlife.

No less than eight members of Venture TENDR, which research the hurt of poisonous chemical compounds on mind growth and its hyperlink to neurodevelopmental problems, have misplaced federal grants, says Maureen Swanson who co-leads the group.

She says one other 4 to 5 members are nonetheless ready to listen to about "pending cuts, together with to multimillion greenback grants that fund their universities' environmental well being analysis facilities."

In a press release, the Division of Well being and Human Companies mentioned that Kennedy "is dedicated to discovering the foundation causes of the persistent illness epidemic, together with the toxins in our surroundings and our meals." And the company has mentioned that it plans to consolidate and streamline work on environmental well being at CDC and elsewhere into the soon-to-be-formed Administration for a Wholesome America, or AHA.

Rules on maintain On the EPA, which might play a vital function in any substantive efforts to cut back dangerous chemical compounds and air pollution, the company's administrator Zeldin is prioritizing deregulation and chopping employees.

The company has delayed implementing nationwide consuming water requirements on PFAS, or "ceaselessly chemical compounds," and proposed lifting laws to cut back emissions of mercury and poisonous pollution from energy vegetation. It has pushed again the deadline for trade to submit security research on greater than a dozen chemical compounds together with benzene, vinyl chloride and Bisphenol A.

The administration appointed a scientist who spent years working for the American Chemistry Council, Nancy Beck to a outstanding function on the EPA, regardless of the MAHA report's emphasis on eliminating conflicts of curiosity.

Zeldin has even touted EPA's success in gutting analysis grants. The cuts have affected scientists who're making an attempt to grasp the poisonous results of chemical compounds, together with a researcher at Wayne State College, Christopher Kassotis, whose work on chemical mixtures was cited within the MAHA fee report.

Rebecca Fry, chair of the division of environmental well being at UNC Gillings College of International Public Well being, says all of her school with EPA grants had them canceled.

"Their focus is precisely what's in MAHA," she says. "They're making an attempt to grasp these complicated associations between chemical compounds within the atmosphere and human well being and illness."

And Zota worries in regards to the lack of grants across the nation to coach scientists on the poisonous results of environmental chemical compounds. "It is simply so devastating," she says. "In the event you speak about learn how to kill a subject, you actually assault the up-and-coming technology."

The EPA mentioned in a press release to NPR that the administration is "working to unravel huge issues and having strong conversations throughout authorities about learn how to drive financial progress whereas defending human well being and the atmosphere as a part of the Make America Wholesome Once more Fee."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1024x683+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F75%2F53%2F221c0c044b3ea54ba0a021ec1d61%2Fgettyimages-2212190309.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1024x683+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F75%2F53%2F221c0c044b3ea54ba0a021ec1d61%2Fgettyimages-2212190309.jpg" class="img" alt="EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, accompanied by Education Secretary Linda McMahon (R), speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC." loading="lazy"/> EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, accompanied by Schooling Secretary Linda McMahon (R), speaks throughout a Cupboard assembly on the White Home on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos cover caption

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Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos A rising concern amongst scientists As Kennedy's MAHA push brings new visibility to her subject, Tracey Woodruff, who leads the us Middle on Reproductive Well being and the Surroundings, says she and plenty of of her colleagues try to navigate a fragile train in science communication.

Kennedy has a historical past of constructing false or deceptive claims on this matter, whether or not it is about bioweapons and chemtrails, or the impact of sure herbicides on gender. His rhetoric in regards to the "mass poisoning of kids" can veer into sweeping claims in regards to the impacts of environmental toxins, with out ample scientific proof. And his actions on vaccines have provoked alarm throughout public well being.

Extra broadly, MAHA's concentrate on environmental toxins generally displays a pressure of thought on the planet of different medication and wellness that inaccurately frames any "pure" substance pretty much as good and man-made or artificial chemical compounds as unhealthy.

But it surely's additionally true that in relation to many well-studied chemical compounds, together with some that Kennedy cites, "we've got sufficient information to take motion," she says. "If we do not speak in regards to the issues that he is saying which might be actual points the federal government needs to be addressing, I am anxious it's going to delegitimize all our work."

Woodruff and others in her subject have outlined their main areas of concern in consensus statements and different peer-reviewed papers on the proof tying artificial chemical compounds and different substances to weight problems, most cancers, heart problems, fertility, neurodevelopmental problems and extra.

Phthalates, ceaselessly chemical compounds, flame retardants, bisphenols, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives and sure pesticides are among the culprits, however there are 1000's in use which have by no means been rigorously evaluated for his or her well being results, particularly on infants and kids.

"There are enormous gaps in the best way that we regulate or shield individuals from these harms," says Burke of Johns Hopkins.

It is enormously difficult to pinpoint the affect of particular substances as a result of individuals encounter so a lot of them over the course of their lives. The proof of hurt typically comes from lab work and long-running observational research that may search for correlations with illness and well being issues within the inhabitants.

More and more, researchers emphasize it is the cumulative publicity that's most regarding right here.

"Many of those chemical compounds of concern assault the identical mechanism within the human physique and may have additive or exponential results," says Dr. Leonardo Trasande, who directs NYU Langone's Middle for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards and research the well being impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemical compounds in on a regular basis merchandise.

Linda Birnbaum, the now-retired director of the Nationwide Institute of Environmental Well being Sciences, was additionally within the viewers with Susanne Brander when Kennedy spoke on the coverage summit on chemical compounds and plastics earlier this 12 months.

She says about "80% to 90%" of what she heard throughout that speech was "actually good" in regards to the want for main reform. "However there aren't any easy options. We're not going to treatment persistent illness in a 12 months or three years or 5 years," she says.

Questions on a daring agenda In public appearances, Kennedy has outlined what specialists describe as an bold agenda to overtake how the U.S. evaluates chemical compounds, notably within the realm of meals and a few client merchandise

"It could do what many people have been asking for for a very long time," says Dr. Trasande at NYU. "I am not making an attempt to place rose-colored glasses on. I simply assume we've got to name it pretty," he provides.

This consists of wanting on the cumulative and combination results of chemical compounds within the meals provide and revising a regulatory pathway that enables corporations to self-declare whether or not a meals additive is protected.

In a press release to NPR, HHS additionally pointed to its announcement of a brand new assessment program to "reassess beforehand accepted chemical compounds in meals and food-contact materials and broaden security assessments to check endocrine and neurobehavioral results." In accordance with the FDA, a public web site will share details about chemical compounds beneath assessment.

However lecturers and advocacy teams which have pushed for such modifications are skeptical in regards to the Trump administration's dedication.

Even on eliminating petroleum-based meals dyes, an space that Kennedy has touted as a significant achievement, Woodruff factors out the administration made this a voluntary determination for producers, not an outright ban.

"We're not seeing any significant motion," says Katherine O'Brien, a senior lawyer on the nonprofit advocacy group Earthjustice.

"What we have seen is splashy press releases, handshake agreements with trade, and principally plans to make plans," she says, "however what reduces the incidence of persistent ailments from chemical contamination is utilizing the federal authorities's precise regulatory authority."

She and different advocates say there's quite a bit the Trump administration might do rapidly – actions like prohibiting phthalates in meals packaging, which teams like hers have needed the FDA to do for years.

And the truth is that any complete effort to crack down on dangerous chemical compounds requires the EPA to additionally wield its regulatory powers as a result of the substances additionally present up in our water and the atmosphere.

Maria Doa, a former EPA scientist now on the Environmental Protection Fund, says it is a obvious inconsistency within the Trump administration's MAHA platform.

"It's worthwhile to take a holistic method," she says. "You should not be pulling again efforts to control our publicity to chemical compounds in a single space and say you are going to be extra protecting in one other."

As a self-described pragmatist, Linda Birnbaum says she hopes to salvage one thing from the "mess" that has disrupted a lot of her subject, however principally she's doubtful.

"Very truthfully, my concern with Kennedy, amongst others, is that as quickly as he begins really making an attempt to control some of these things, trade goes to go to Trump and so they'll kick him out," she says

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