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E.P.A. To End Some Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water
The Trump administration announced Monday that it will drop some limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water that officials had determined can cause cancer and other serious health problems — angering some key activists who had supported President Trump’s campaign.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it would unravel the nation’s first federal drinking water limits for the compounds, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The Biden administration established the limits on six of the substances in 2024, after the agency determined that long-term exposure to PFAS was linked to kidney cancer, immune system suppression, developmental delays in infants and children and other issues.
Instead, the Trump administration will issue narrower regulations that rescind protections for four of the substances and continue to protect against two of the them, though companies will be able to request two extra years to comply with those.
But the move, which had been planned for more than a year, has sparked fury within the Make America Healthy Again movement, a diverse group of anti-vaccine activists, wellness influencers and others who make up a key part of Mr. Trump’s coalition.
Texas AG Paxton Announces Settlement to Stop Albertsons Using Pesticides on Organic Produce
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday announced a settlement that stops all Albertsons stores in the state from using synthetic pesticides on organic produce.
In his announcement, Paxton said the settlement comes after an investigation that began in January and found thousands of grocery stores in the United States used ProduceMaxx (an EPA-registered antimicrobial pesticide containing hypochlorous acid) in produce misting systems. This was allegedly done to control bacteria and extend shelf life. Paxton said that in several stores, ProduceMaxx was sprayed on produce that were labeled organic.
Paxton said under this landmark settlement, all Albertsons-owned grocery stores in Texas will have to stop using ProduceMaxx or any other synthetic antimicrobial pesticide in misting systems on organic produce. The store employees will also have to complete a potable water rinse on all organic produce after any ProduceMaxx treatment.
Don’t Let Big Oil Off the Health Liability Hook
As healthcare professionals, we understand the gravity of our responsibilities. We are held to exacting standards, and we accept that our decisions may be scrutinized in malpractice claims. Many of us have been named in such suits; we devote significant time and energy to defending clinical judgments often made under urgent, high-pressure conditions and grounded in the best available evidence. When errors occur and harm results, we recognize the necessity of accountability.
But consider a different kind of responsibility. What if your role were to design, manufacture, or market products that — according to well-established scientific evidence — pose substantial risks to public health — products such as tobacco, opioids, firearms, or fossil fuels?
In those cases, should our legal system allow courts to hold manufacturers accountable for the consequences of their products? Or should Congress enact protections, as introduced last month for Big Oil in the House and Senate, that shield these industries from liability — effectively granting immunity to profit-driven energy entities despite decades of evidence demonstrating the harms associated with their products?
Low-Level Air Pollution Linked to Cognitive Decline, Brain Damage
The air pollution we breathe daily could be harming more than just our lungs and hearts. New research from McMaster University suggests that fine particles from traffic, industry and wildfire smoke is linked to worse cognitive function.
The study, published online in the journal Stroke on May 13, 2026, found that people living in areas with higher air pollution scored worse on tests of memory, understanding and mental speed. This finding was true for places where air pollution is considered low by international standards.
Higher levels of traffic-related pollution were also linked to small but visible signs of damage to the brain seen on MRI scans, and more so in women.
These relationships remained even after accounting for heart-health risk factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, and body adiposity, suggesting that air pollution may be directly affecting the brain.
“Dementia doesn’t happen overnight,” says Russell de Souza, associate professor with McMaster’s Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact and the study’s corresponding author. “It develops over decades. Identifying factors that may damage the brain early, and that are potentially preventable, is critical for protecting brain health later in life.”
New Mexico, Air Force Reach Deal on PFAS Contamination Cleanup
New Mexico says it has a breakthrough with the Air Force after more than eight years of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination concerns near Cannon Air Force Base. Lt. Gov. Howie Morales went to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with Air Force leaders about contamination in drinking water in Curry County outside Cannon Air Force Base.
For years, the Air Force used a foam containing chemicals known as PFAS to put out jet fuel fires and to train for aircraft fires at Cannon Air Force Base. More than eight years ago, those chemicals turned up in drinking water on and off base. Since 2019, New Mexico has been in a legal battle aimed at holding the Air Force accountable for the contamination.
Morales said he reached a verbal agreement with the Air Force this week to get the state and the military working together on the cleanup.
“The Air Force needs New Mexico and New Mexico needs the Air Force to come together to work, to get onto the land, to access the information that we need,” Morales said. Under the agreement, the New Mexico Environment Department will lead groundwater sampling in the ongoing cleanup effort. “Without the collaboration, we’d be at a stalemate where we’ve been for over 8 years.” Morales said.
Vermont Officials and Residents Respond to Ongoing PFAS Contamination Concerns in Bennington County
The state of Vermont is offering well testing, free water and other support for southern Bennington and Shaftsbury in the wake of research last year that found PFAS contamination in the Bennington area has spread and worsened over time.
The state is also in active negotiations with the current corporate owner of the now shuttered ChemFab factory in Bennington, which produced Teflon-coated fiberglass fabrics, containing PFOA, perfluorooctanoic acid.
PFOA is a specific type of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are a group of thousands of synthetic, toxic compounds that can be found in common items like cookware and sports gear. Unsafe levels of PFOA have been found in a great swath of private wells in the Bennington area.
Southern Bennington and Shaftsbury residents are looking into the possibility of legal redress, and the town of Shaftsbury wants the state to go further and provide blood testing after toxic chemical exposure.
EPA Just Walked Back Hawaiʻi’s Plan To Retire Its Dinosaur Power Plants
Hawaiʻi has some of the freshest air in the nation, but in some parts of the state hazy skies can impact tourism and public health. Now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has pumped the brakes on a multi-decade effort to improve visibility and reduce fine particulates and other man-made pollutants.
On Friday, the agency announced it had partially denied Hawaiʻi’s 2024 Regional Haze State Implementation Plan, a detailed proposal that lays out the state’s intention to comply with the federal Clean Air Act. The plan was designed specifically to reduce haze in two iconic places: Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island and Haleakalā National Park on Maui.
Because the two parks are designated as “Class I” under the Clean Air Act, their air quality is legally entitled to the highest level of protection.
Although the EPA is leaving some aspects of the haze plan intact, it is jettisoning its main thrust: the state’s long-term strategy, which included shutting down at least two of Hawaiian Electric Co.’s oil-fired electricity generating units in the Kanoelehua-Hill and Kahului power plants by 2028. The units are the dinosaurs of the industry; the Kahului unit was commissioned in 1948.
