This story was originally published by Public News Service.
By Suzanne Potter, producer
Public News Service
March 9, 2026
A new report called out the Trump administration’s many efforts to roll back pollution protections, warning increased exposure to toxic chemicals is hazardous to human health in Nevada and across the U.S.
The “Terrible Toxics Situation Report” is part of the “Safer, Not Sicker” campaign from the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit made up of former staff at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Sarah Bucic, a registered nurse with the nonpartisan Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, said the current Environmental Protection Agency has abandoned its mission by delaying or limiting health safeguards on toxic chemicals in our air, water and land.
“We know that more soot in the air will mean more children treated for asthma and lung diseases,” Bucic outlined. “More lead will result in children with developmental problems. More benzene will lead to higher rates of blood cancers, including lymphoma. More TCE will contribute to kidney and liver cancers, Parkinson’s disease, and fetal heart defects.”
The EPA under President Donald Trump has worked to weaken many environmental protection standards, arguing they cost jobs by placing too high a burden on business, agriculture and manufacturing. The report named the 12 most common ways Americans are exposed to toxic chemicals and specifically mentioned arsenic, which is a particular problem in unregulated private water wells in the Reno-Truckee Meadows area.
The Trump administration is petitioning a federal court to roll back the Biden-era standards on particulate matter in the air.
Dr. Afif El-Hasan, a pediatrician on the board of the American Lung Association, said it will lead to dirtier air, especially in neighborhoods near freeways and industrial zones.
“When the EPA weakens the guardrails to keep soot out of our children’s air, it means more kids in the emergency room struggling to breathe,” El-Hasan pointed out. “It means more missed school days and more missed work days for the parents who have to stay home and take care of the children.”
The authors also called out mercury in fish, pesticides on our food, phthalates in plastic packaging, lead in paint, soil, and water, and PFAS, “forever” chemicals in drinking water and in dust, especially near military bases. The report also examined excessive exposure to TCE, formaldehyde, benzene and vinyl chloride.
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