News

April 24, 2025

USDA withdraws proposed rule meant to reduce Salmonella in poultry products

By Shannon Kelleher

Federal regulators on Thursday withdrew a proposed framework for raw poultry products that was introduced under the Biden administration to reduce the spread of Salmonella bacteria, one of the leading pathogens involved in foodborne illness outbreaks.

The rule, proposed by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) under the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in August 2024, would have declared chicken and turkey products spoiled if they contained 10 or more colony-forming units of the bacteria and if they were contaminated with Salmonella strains that are considered particularly concerning for human health.

“The Biden-era proposal would have imposed significant financial and operational burdens on American businesses and consumers, failing to consider an effective and achievable approach to address Salmonella in poultry products,” said a USDA spokesperson.

FSIS will work to assess its approach to addressing Salmonella in poultry products in ways that won’t “impose regulatory burdens on American producers and consumers,” said the spokesperson, including by evaluating whether an update to the current Salmonella standards is warranted.

The announcement comes after some US lawmakers introduced a bill earlier this year aimed at preventing the USDA from implementing the framework. The move to axe the proposed rule also comes on the heels of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s announcement last month to delay by 30 months the implementation of a rule designed to help the agency quickly find contaminated foods and remove them from the supply chain.

The Trump administration also recently terminated two USDA food safety advisory committees, including one that was researching how to better predict and control foodborne pathogens, including Salmonella.

April 23, 2025

$9 trillion in heat damages traced to 5 fossil fuel giants, study finds

By Dana Drugmand

Carbon dioxide and methane emissions from the world’s biggest fossil fuel producers have likely caused trillions of dollars in economic damages due to intensifying heatwaves over the last 30 years, according to new peer-reviewed research.

The top five emitters – Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia), Gazprom (Russia), Chevron (US), ExxonMobil (US), and BP (British), respectively – are responsible for about $9 trillion in heat-related damages, according to the study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The analysis is the first to tie economic losses from extreme heat to emissions from individual fossil fuel companies, according to the study, and could bolster climate change-focused litigation against polluters.

“This work helps build the foundation for holding those who contributed most to climate harm accountable for its consequences,” said Delta Merner, lead scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Science Hub for Climate Litigation, who was not involved in this study.

The study calculates global economic losses due to extreme heat stemming from the emissions of over 100 of the largest fossil fuel and cement producers, known as the carbon majors, between 1991 and 2020, concluding that the global economy would be $28 trillion – roughly the annual total U.S. GDP – richer without the carbon majors’ greenhouse gas emissions.

The study estimates that global economic losses from intensifying heat attributable to each of these five carbon majors ranged from $1.45 trillion to over $2 trillion.

April 22, 2025

FDA moves to phase out petroleum-based food dyes

By Brian Bienkowski

Federal health officials announced plans Tuesday to phase out synthetic food dyes made from petroleum, marking a significant shift in how the U.S. regulates chemical additives in food.

Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary, along with other Trump administration officials, announced a series of moves to rid the American food supply of the dyes, including revoking authorization for two food dyes (Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B), working with industry to eliminate six other synthetic dyes by the end of next year and authorizing four new natural color additives in coming weeks.

The agencies will also work with the National Institutes of Health to research how food additives impact children.

“For the last 50 years, we have been running one of the largest uncontrolled scientific experiments in the world on our nation’s children, without their consent,” Makary said at a Tuesday press conference, flanked by children holding signs that read ‘Make America Healthy Again’ and ‘Better Food, Brighter Futures’.

“And today we’re removing these petroleum-based chemicals from their food supply,” Makary added.

The dyes are commonly found in candy, sodas, cereals, sports drinks and other highly processed foods, but also show up in unexpected items like casserole mixes, yogurts and salad dressings. The dyes are linked to health problems including hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children. Health advocates have long argued that the bright food colorings also make unhealthy foods more attractive to children.

This is “not a silver bullet that will make American children healthy, but is one important step,” Makary said.

April 22, 2025

Over 50 million Americans lack access to federal air quality data, study reveals

By Shannon Kelleher

More than half of US counties lack a single federally monitored station for keeping tabs on air quality, meaning more than 50 million Americans (about 15% of the population) live in “air quality monitoring deserts” that lack crucial data for protecting people from harmful pollutants, according to new research.

The findings come as environmental and public health advocates grow increasingly concerned about how recent Trump administration actions will impact air quality and the availability of data and resources for monitoring it.

The study, published April 21 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used September 2024 data from a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directory to pinpoint gaps in air quality monitoring, finding that rural counties and those more heavily populated by minorities were less likely to have monitoring stations.

Air quality monitoring deserts, meaning those without a single monitoring station in the EPA’s database, are “highly concentrated” in the Midwest and the South, the study found. In states with higher populations and more urban areas, including California and Massachusetts, less than 20% of counties lacked monitoring stations, while in more rural states, including Arkansas and South Dakota, about 80% of counties or more lacked monitoring.

In some cases, state and local governments conduct their own air quality monitoring in the absence of federal coverage, which may not necessarily collaborate with the EPA’s monitoring program, according to the study.

“Current gaps in air quality monitoring in the United States have profound implications for communities, research, policy, and climate action,” the authors write. “Based on our findings, there is a need to reevaluate current air quality monitoring strategies and infrastructure.”

April 18, 2025

Nebraska residents call for tighter insecticide regulations after contamination event

By Shannon Kelleher

More than four years after a massive contamination event tied to pesticide-coated farm seeds rocked a rural Nebraska community, environmental and public health advocates are calling on state officials to remove regulatory exemptions for the coated seeds, and to monitor waterways for the pesticide pollutants.

Supporters of the action have launched a petition drive, and plan to protest at the Nebraska state capitol this weekend as part of an observance of April 22 as Earth Day, and as part of national protests against actions by the Trump administration.

The action reflects persistent frustrations and fears among residents in the area of Mead, Nebraska, the site of a former ethanol plant that used discarded seeds coated with neonicotinoids (neonics) as feedstock and failed to properly dispose of the neonic-laden waste. The plant accumulated thousands of pounds of the waste onsite, failed to prevent it from leaking into waterways, and spread some on farm fields as a soil-conditioner.

Research has shown that neonics, which are types of neurotoxic insecticides, are known to be harmful to insects and a range of species, including potentially humans.

While the contamination crisis in Mead resulted from activities at one plant, the contamination concerns are part of a nationwide battle over neonics and neonic-treated seeds. The seeds are marketed by several of the world’s largest seed companies as tools for farmers to use to repel unwanted insects that threaten crops, and are largely exempted from specific US regulatory oversight.

“This is a window of opportunity where there is some nationwide focus on the issue,” said Janece Mollhoff, an area resident who lives downstream from Mead who is helping lead the petition drive. “We’re not sure if it will change the Governor’s mind, but we do want to raise awareness of the issue with folks in Nebraska. It’s a Big Ag issue and not a partisan issue, necessarily.”

April 17, 2025

Groups move for disclosure of Chemours’ sealed PFAS documents

By Trisha Talton, Coastal Review

The chemical manufacturing company that has publicly touted its products, business strategies and chemistries in ad campaigns aimed at polishing its image will further harm North Carolinians if it is successful in keeping thousands of pages of documents sealed in court, environmental organizations argue. The Southern Environmental Law Center on Monday filed a court motion to intervene in a case brought against Chemours and its predecessor company DuPont, attorneys for which have asked the court to keep up to 21,000 pages of documents under seal.

The Southern Environmental Law Center on Monday filed a court motion to intervene in a case brought against Chemours and its predecessor company DuPont, attorneys for which have asked the court to keep up to 21,000 pages of documents under seal.

Those documents, SELC argues in its motion, “will help communities understand the harm the facility has caused, and will continue to cause, to their own health, their property values, and even the lives of future generations.” The motion was filed on behalf of Cape Fear River Watch, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, and the Environmental Justice Community Action Network in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

In February, attorneys for Chemours and DuPont requested the court keep from public view what they say are mostly internal communications between company employees about “non-public facts” that pertain, in part, to chemical production and is therefore “competitively sensitive.”

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April 16, 2025

Mississippi River named the most endangered of 2025

By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens

The Mississippi River ranks as the nation’s most endangered river as federal plans to cut flood relief programs meet with a rise in severe weather, a new report warns.

American Rivers, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, said the threats to the Mississippi River – which provides water for nearly 20 million people – come as communities along the lower river flooded from torrential rain in early April, and as Trump administration officials consider eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which helps state and local governments respond to disasters.

The list calls attention to the threats rivers face and prioritizes those for which the public can influence policies that affect their well-being, said Mike Sertle, senior director for American Rivers’ Central Region.

The Mississippi River has always flooded. While flooding threatens human structures, it is an important part of the Mississippi River’s life cycle and actually builds land. But experts say floods are growing more frequent, erratic and severe due to climate change. In 2019, the river’s most recent major flood, water stayed at or above flood stage for months and caused $20 billion in damage.

FEMA assists communities during floods and other types of disasters, provides funds for recovery and oversees preparedness efforts, like its flood maps that predict risks in different areas. And it’s doing so more often today. A January 2025 report to Congress found that the average number of major disaster declarations has increased by 61% from the 1980s and 1990s, partly due to climate change.

But it has faced broad criticism for not moving quickly enough after disasters and not helping disaster survivors equally. President Donald Trump has floated the idea of dismantling the agency, and in February the agency fired more than 200 of its staffers as part of Trump’s push to shrink the size and scope of the federal government. The White House did not comment on the American Rivers’ report’s criticism of these actions.

April 15, 2025

Study reveals US hotspots for poor water quality and “water injustice”

By Douglas Main

New research has identified hotspots in the US with concerning levels of water quality and poor access to clean drinking water, revealing that Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Washington had the most water quality violations across the board.

The paper, published Tuesday in the journal Risk Analysis, also developed county-level scores across most of the country for unequal access to safe and clean drinking water, finding that eight of the 10 counties with the worst “water injustice” scores were in Mississippi, with the other two in Texas and South Dakota. Water injustice tends to disproportionately impact low-income households and people of color.

The top 10 counties with the most water violations were located in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.

“You can see some pretty stark differences between states,” said study lead author Alex Segrè Cohen, a social scientist at the University of Oregon. In Arizona, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania, “almost every county has high water violation scores,” she said.

The study also noted that 2 million people in the US lack access to running water or indoor plumbing in their homes. Many of these communities are found on the US-Mexico border, or on tribal land. Another 30 million live “where water systems operate unsafely.”

The findings add to other recent work on water quality in the US, including a trove of data made public in February by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in their tap water database, which shows widespread pollution of US tap water with more than 320 chemical contaminants, including industrial chemicals and farm-related pollutants.

April 15, 2025

Syngenta moving to settle thousands of lawsuits claiming paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease

By Carey Gillam

Besieged by thousands of lawsuits alleging that its paraquat weedkiller causes Parkinson’s disease, Syngenta has entered into an agreement aimed at settling large swaths of those claims.

The company and lead counsel for thousands of plaintiffs have “entered into a signed Letter Agreement intended to resolve” the litigation, an April 14 court filing states.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs confirmed the settlement but declined to answer questions about the details.

“Public details of the settlement will be available for counsel and their clients once the process is finalized,” a team of plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a statement.

In a court hearing Tuesday, one of the lead plaintiff lawyers, Khaldoun Baghdadi, said the terms of the settlement should be completed within 30 days. He said further trial planning proceedings should be delayed.

Syngenta confirmed that it has “settled certain claims” related to paraquat, but said in a statement that it continues to believe that there is “no merit” to the claims.

Litigation “can be distracting and costly,” the company said. “Entering into the agreement in no way implies that paraquat causes Parkinson’s Disease or that Syngenta has done anything wrong. We stand by the safety of Paraquat. Despite decades of investigation and more than 1,200 epidemiological and laboratory studies of paraquat, no scientist or doctor has ever concluded in a peer-reviewed scientific analysis that paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease. This view is endorsed in science-based reviews by regulatory authorities, such as in the US, Australia and Japan.”

April 15, 2025

Unsafe sleeping? Mattresses may expose children to toxins as they sleep, studies find

By Shannon Kelleher

While monsters under the bed may be just childhood fantasy, parents might have real reason to fear what’s lurking in their children’s mattresses.

These mattresses can contain a variety of toxic chemicals including flame retardants and substances called “plasticizers” that make materials softer and more flexible, exposing kids and babies as they sleep to harmful emissions linked to issues with cognitive function, asthma, cancer and other health problems, according to new peer-reviewed research.

In a study published April 15 in the Environmental Science & Technology Letters, scientists detected over two dozen phthalates, flame retardants, and UV-filter chemicals (which protect materials from sunlight) in 25 Canadian children’s bedrooms, with the highest levels in the air around the beds where the children slept.

A related study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology pointed to mattresses as the likely source, finding emissions of 21 semi-volatile organic compounds in 16 newly purchased children’s mattresses when the researchers simulated a child’s body weight and temperature.

While the testing took place with mattresses purchased in Canada, it seems likely that mattresses in the US would contain similar chemicals of concern, since the countries use some of the same brands and likely rely on some of the same suppliers, said Arlene Blum, executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute and an author of one of the studies.

The findings “underscore the role of children’s mattresses as a significant source” of these chemicals in children’s sleeping environments and are “particularly concerning given the substantial amount of time children spend sleeping each day, their tendency for higher exposures and increased susceptibility to harm due to their developmental stage,” the authors write.