Trump's EPA Won't Regulate Chemical Linked to Fetal & Infant Brain Damage

Little by little, Donald Trump is undermining the Environmental Protection Agency's [EPA] mission to regulate toxins in the air and water that damage human health and that effort continued this week. The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump administration officials at the EPA have decided not to impose limits on perchlorate, "a toxic chemical compound that contaminates water and has been linked to fetal and infant brain damage."

New York Times: "The decision by Andrew Wheeler, the administrator of the E.P.A., appears to defy a court order that required the agency to establish a safe drinking-water standard for the chemical by the end of June. The policy, which acknowledges that exposure to high levels of perchlorate can cause I.Q. damage but opts nevertheless not to limit it, could also set a precedent for the regulation of other chemicals, people familiar with the matter said." ...

... "The decision is the latest in a string of Trump administration regulatory actions that weaken toxic chemical regulations, often against the advice of E.P.A.’s own experts, in ways favored by the chemical industry."

Like many other decisions the EPA has to make, officials can choose to err on the side of human health or on the side of powerful economic interests. Trump's appointees at the agency have shown that they will almost always side with the latter.

#news #environment

By: Don Lam & Curated Content