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“Chaos and panic” as US slashes funds for small farmers and food assistance
By Carey Gillam
Farmers and food assistance groups around the country are reeling this week amid a series of moves by the Trump administration to cut funding for programs that support small and disadvantaged farmers and provide food for low-income families.
The loss of funding, which totals more than $1 billion, was sending shock waves through a system set up to provide reliable markets and consistent income for farmers who supply healthy, unprocessed, locally grown fruits and vegetables and other foods to hunger assistance organizations and public schools.
Funding was spread through every US state but some of the largest amounts of program money were earmarked for farmers in California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Georgia.
“This is a huge deal for small farmers,” said Ellee Igoe, co-owner of Solidarity Farm in southern California and director of operations for Foodshed, a San Diego County network of regenerative and organic farms supplying food to families in need.
“We’re growing healthy food and providing it to local communities. And they are cancelling contracts without real reason. Out here, it feels like it is very politically motivated.”
Igoe said she and others believe the cuts are related in part to President Donald Trump’s decision to eliminate programs that carry “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) objectives because when applying for program funding under the Biden administration, applicants were asked to list how the funding would help minority/disadvantaged farmers.
Microplastics boost antibiotic resistance in E. coli, lab study suggests
By Shannon Kelleher
Co-mingling of tiny pieces of plastic with certain harmful bacteria can make the bacteria harder to fight with several common antibiotics, according to a new study that adds to global concerns about antibiotic resistance.
The study, published Tuesday in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, found that when Escherichia coli (E. coli) MG1655 bacteria, a widely-used laboratory strain, were cultured with microplastics (plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size), the bacteria became five times more resistant to four common antibiotics than when they were cultivated without the plastic particles.
The findings may be particularly relevant for understanding links between waste management and disease, the study suggests. Municipal wastewater plants contain both microplastics and antibiotics, making them “hot spots” that fuel the spread of antibiotic resistance.
“The fact that there are microplastics all around us …. is a striking part of this observation,” study co-author and Boston University professor Muhammad Zaman said in a press release. “There is certainly a concern that this could present a higher risk in communities that are disadvantaged, and only underscores the need for more vigilance and a deeper insight into [microplastic and bacterial] interactions.”
Many types of bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics, largely due to their overuse. Over 2.8 million infections resistant to these medications occur in the US alone each year, killing 35,000 people annually, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Resistance in E.coli is a concern because even though the bacteria usually live harmlessly in the guts of humans and animals, some strains can cause severe illness. And there are multiple types of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which often causes infections in hospitals, and Clostridium difficile (C.diff), which causes diarrhea.
The growing cancer crisis in young adults and a call to action
By Dr. Raphael Cuomo
Over the past several decades, cancer has been predominantly viewed as a disease of aging. Conventional wisdom suggests that the longer we live, the more opportunities our cells have to accumulate genetic mutations that can eventually lead to malignancies. Yet, this paradigm is being upended by a disturbing trend: Cancer is increasingly striking younger adults.
Recent data show that rates of early-onset cancers—those diagnosed in individuals under 50—are rising across multiple cancer types, with colorectal, breast, pancreatic, and esophageal cancers showing some of the most dramatic increases. This shift is prompting urgent questions about what could be fueling the trend. While genetics plays a role, the rapid nature of this rise suggests that environmental and lifestyle factors, including changes in diet and the gut microbiome, may be contributing in ways we are only beginning to understand.
Historically, colorectal cancer was considered a disease of older adults, and screening guidelines reflected this assumption. However, in 2021, the US Preventive Services Task Force lowered the recommended age for colorectal cancer screening from 50 to 45 in response to mounting evidence of rising incidence in younger populations. Similar concerns are emerging for other malignancies, including breast and pancreatic cancer, which are also appearing at increasing rates in adults under 50.
While some researchers have suggested that improvements in early detection may be responsible for part of the increase, this explanation does not fully account for the trend. The data reveal a true rise in incidence, not merely better detection. Moreover, these cancers are often more aggressive when they appear in younger adults, leading to worse prognoses. This makes understanding the underlying risk factors an urgent priority.
Amid lack of faith in FDA, US states rush to ban food dyes
Call it a MAHA moment. At least a dozen US states – from traditionally conservative Oklahoma to liberal-leaning New York – are rushing to pass laws outlawing commonly used dyes and other chemical additives in foods, citing a need to protect public health.
In one of the most far-reaching efforts, West Virginia on Wednesday advanced a sweeping ban on a range of common food dyes that have been linked to health problems, particularly for children, with overwhelming support from both Republicans and Democrats.
The new law prohibits the sale of any food product containing certain yellow, blue, green and red dyes often found in candies, snacks and other foods and drinks, and goes much further than any other state in moving to eliminate the chemicals from store shelves.
The West Virginia measure has passed both legislative chambers and is expected to receive final clearance within the next week to move to the governor’s desk for signing.
Public health advocates have been lobbying for state and federal action for years, pointing to research that links food dyes and other chemical additives to a range of health risks, including neurobehavioral problems and cancers.
Food industry advocates have protested efforts to ban the additives, citing what they say is a lack of proof that the chemicals are harmful to people, and arguing such laws will make food more expensive.
But supporters of the measures say the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement associated with newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is giving fresh momentum to the efforts. Kennedy has long warned about chemical additives in food and vowed in his confirmation hearing before Congress to “scrutinize the chemical additives in our food supply.”
“There is a lot of support for these measures now for a few reasons. The most obvious one is the MAHA movement,” said Laura Wakim Chapman, chair of the West Virginia Senate Health and Human Resources Committee. “Viral videos and social media content is informing the public about the dangers of unnecessary food additives. I am a mother of two and care deeply about their health. I think most parents do.”
Postcard from California: Chemical warning labels are everywhere – and they’re working
By Bill Walker
A driver entering an enclosed parking garage in California is greeted by a 20-by-20-inch sign declaring in 72-point type:
WARNING: Breathing the air in this parking garage can expose you to chemicals including carbon monoxide and gasoline or diesel engine exhaust, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
The signs are known as Prop. 65 warnings, after the ballot proposition number of the state Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, which in 1986 was approved by almost two-thirds of California voters.
The law established a registry that is regularly updated with substances that include hazardous chemicals found in common household products, electronics, pesticides, food, drugs, dyes, additives, construction materials and automobiles. All must carry warning labels if they contain threshold levels of a listed chemical. The law also prohibits the discharge of listed chemicals into sources of drinking water.
In the most recent update, the Prop. 65 registry, which is maintained by scientists at the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), has grown to 874 chemicals and compounds. Chemicals are added only after exhaustive reviews by independent expert panels of studies from authoritative national and international public health agencies.
Unregulated flame retardants can break down into toxic byproducts, study shows
By Douglas Main
New research shows that two unregulated and widely used flame retardants found in many electronic devices and touted by industry as non-toxic break down into harmful molecules that can pose a health risk to fish and potentially other creatures, including humans.
The chemicals in question, large molecules called polymers, have largely escaped regulation as industry has argued that the materials are unlikely to degrade or make their way into living creatures. Many are even marketed as non-hazardous or environmentally friendly.
But a study published Monday in the journal Nature Sustainability found evidence suggesting that is not true. Researchers reported finding dozens of smaller molecules caused by the breakdown of polymeric flame retardants in soil, dust, and air outside electronic waste recycling facilities in southern China. The scientists exposed zebrafish — commonly used in initial toxicity tests — to the chemicals and found that they caused metabolic dysfunction and showed the potential for development harm.
“Our study suggests polymers can act as a trojan horse for toxic chemicals,” Da Chen, senior author and scientist at Jinan University in China. “They are added to products as inert large molecules, but over time they can degrade, exposing us to their harmful breakdown products.”
In recent years, polymeric flame retardants have been used to replace smaller, toxic molecules, such as chemicals called HBCD and PBDE, which have been partially phased out due to safety concerns.
Most polymers, including all such flame retardants, are considered exempt from major regulations meant to protect humans. But the new research shows regulation is needed, said Arlene Blum, co-author of the study and a research associate at the University of California, Berkeley. Blum also serves as executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute.
Over-planting of GM corn costing farmers billions, study finds
By Douglas Main
A new study adds to evidence that farmers in the US corn belt have over-planted a type of genetically modified (GM) corn, leading to estimated losses of more than $1 billion as the pests the corn was designed to repel have grown resistant over time.
The authors of the paper, published Thursday in the journal Science, said their findings supported a move toward a “more diversified” seed supply.
Known as Bt corn because it contains up to five toxins produced by a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis, the specialty corn is designed to express proteins that make the plant toxic to certain pests, including corn rootworm. More than 85% of corn planted in the US is the Bt variety, to which various insect pests are becoming resistant.
After examining rootworm crop damage data from 10 states over the period 2005-2016, the researchers determined that many farmers planted more GM corn than was considered necessary to address pest problems. Bt seeds typically carry a significant price premium.
The scientists found that planting Bt corn in certain eastern Corn Belt states provided “only marginal yield protection benefits,” benefits that appear to often be eclipsed by the higher costs for GM seed versus non-GM seed.
House hearing probes Biden climate spending as Zeldin threatens clawback
By Shannon Kelleher
A Republican-led House committee on Wednesday held a hearing that scrutinized the Biden administration’s spending on energy and environmental projects, amid concerns about possible conflicts of interest and the fast pace of funds appropriated in the former president’s final months in office.
“Our concern is when you have such a large volume of money getting out the door with such tight statutory deadlines, what processes and internal controls were in place for that money going out?” Nicole Murley, Acting Inspector General for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said in the Feb. 26 House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing. “That’s always what we would call a ‘situation of risk.’”
Democrats blasted the hearing as “out of touch,” saying the real problems at hand are conflicts of interest within the Trump administration and moves to freeze federal funding and fire large numbers of government employees, including the Inspectors General of both the EPA and the US Department of Energy (DOE).
“With all the fires and chaos that Trump and Musk are intentionally starting in these agencies, it’s ridiculous that this is what Republicans are choosing to conduct oversight on today,” said US Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey. “This hearing is not about oversight or accountability. Instead, it’s another effort by Republicans to justify stealing investments from American communities in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations.”
The EPA and DOE each received billions of dollars through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which was signed in 2021, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was signed in 2022. Funding made available through the laws has been appropriated for a wide range of projects, including clean energy grants, drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects, environmental cleanup programs, clean school buses, and programs to reduce air pollution.
New data show widespread chemical contamination of drinking water
By Douglas Main
A newly released trove of data reveals widespread pollution of US tap water with more than 320 chemical contaminants, including industrial chemicals and farm-related pollutants.
The latest information is part of a tap water database, created by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), and incorporates information from nearly 50,000 water systems collected between 2021 and 2023.
Though few chemicals were found exceeding the federal government’s legally mandated maximum contaminant level (or MCL), almost all US water systems nation-wide contained at least one contaminant at levels that surpassed the health guidelines developed by EWG that are based on scientific research of the harms associated with the various contaminants.
“This is a wake-up call,” said Tasha Stoiber, an EWG senior scientist. “Outdated federal regulations continue to leave millions of people at risk of exposure to harmful substances.”
Among the chemicals commonly detected were per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals, which were found in the water of at least 143 million Americans. Nitrates, a common waste product from farming operations linked to colorectal cancer and thyroid disease, were also commonly detected as well as disinfection byproducts caused by using chlorine.
Many of these disinfection byproducts — including chemicals called trihalomethanes, chloroform, haloacetic acids, and more — showed up in tens of thousands of water systems at concentrations far above what many health scientists consider safe.
USDA’s climate webpage purge breaks laws and hurts farmers, lawsuit alleges
By Shannon Kelleher and Carey Gillam
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) broke the law when it purged government websites of climate-related information and disabled access to key datasets, making it hard for farmers to access information on climate adaptation strategies and financial assistance, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by a coalition of advocacy groups.
The “vital resources” were stripped from various USDA websites on Jan.30, shortly after President Donald Trump took office, erasing public access to information about climate-smart agriculture, forest conservation, climate change adaptation, investment in clean energy projects and other “essential information about USDA programs and policies,” the lawsuit alleges.
The case against the agency was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group.
The plaintiffs allege that the USDA broke the law by not providing legally required notice before removing the webpages, violating the Freedom of Information Act, and by not giving “reasoned decision-making” to the harm caused to farmers and others by the removal of the information.
The USDA did not respond to a request for comment, instead referring questions to the US Department of Justice, which declined to comment.
The lawsuit comes amid a flurry of actions taken by the Trump administration in the last few weeks to overhaul federal agencies and rollback or otherwise reverse many moves made by the Biden administration, including Biden-era policies aimed at mitigating harmful climate change.