Latest news with #childhooddiseases
E&E News
22-05-2025
- Health
- E&E News
MAHA targets environmental chemicals
A new report from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA Commission says toxic chemicals are a significant factor driving childhood chronic diseases — and blames 'corporate influence' for the exposures, according to a copy viewed by POLITICO's E&E News. 'Unlike other administrations, we will not be silenced or intimidated by the corporate lobbyists and special interests, and I want this group to do what they have to do,' President Donald Trump said during a press conference Thursday afternoon. 'In some cases it won't be nice or it won't be pretty, but we have to do it.' Chemical exposures are listed second among the 'four potential drivers behind the rise in childhood chronic disease that present the clearest opportunities for progress,' behind 'poor diet' and ahead of 'lack of activity and chronic stress' and 'overmedication.' Advertisement The report is sure to come under fire from public health groups for doubling down on widely debunked claims linking vaccines to autism and comes at a time when Kennedy has faced criticism for not forcefully recommending vaccination during an ongoing measles epidemic. It also highlights the schism between Kennedy's stated interest in chemical regulation and actual actions by EPA during the current Trump administration and his previous term to deregulate some of the very chemicals the report describes as harmful. Dr. Phil Landrigan, an environmental epidemiologist and pediatrician who leads Boston College's global public health program, said that the report's section on vaccines is 'simply not true' but that its section on environmental chemical exposures 'presents a brilliant diagnosis of the problem.' The report singles out seven chemical groups where it says continued studies are needed: PFAS, aka 'forever chemicals'; microplastics; fluoride; electromagnetic radiation; phthalates; bisphenols; and crop protection tools, which include pesticides, herbicides and insecticides. 'The current regulatory framework should be continually evaluated to ensure that chemicals and other exposures do not interact together to pose a threat to the health of our children,' the report says, echoing a sentiment Landrigan and other public health experts have been repeating for decades. The specifics on how the administration plans to achieve these goals will come in a later report, due in August. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, one of the commission's 14 members, signaled stricter regulations won't necessarily be part of the solution. 'America's childhood chronic disease crisis will be solved through innovation,' Zeldin said in a statement Thursday. 'This report shows America will continue to be the energy, industrial, and agricultural power of the world — and we can continue this while ensuring we have the healthiest children.' Kennedy echoed that at the White House Thursday: 'This administration has the bravery to tell the truth and solve problems through innovation and not nanny state regulation,' Kennedy said. Zeldin so far has delivered on promises to act with industry's interests in mind, by launching the process for rolling back dozens of regulations, rehiring business-friendly political leaders from Trump's first administration, and initiating an agency-wide reorganization that has dissolved key research and climate programs. The MAHA report highlights work done by a 25-year-old EPA program tracking childhood disease in children, called America's Children and the Environment. But EPA's new organizational structure no longer includes the stand-alone Office of Children's Health, which housed the tracking program. It's unclear if the program's functions will be transferred elsewhere. The structure of the pesticides office will remain the same under the proposal, but the chemicals office's top political leaders have built reputations defending the very substances the MAHA report singles out. While the Department of Health and Human Services has considerable influence over the nation's health priorities, EPA is the agency with regulatory authority over industrial and farm chemicals. The report cites statistics on the chemical industry spending nearly $80 million on lobbying activities last year, as well as quoting an analysis that found 60 percent of chemical-sector lobbyists in 2023 previously held agency positions. 'As a result of this influence, the regulatory environment surrounding the chemical industry may reflect a consideration of its interests,' the report says. Kennedy, a former environmental attorney, built a reputation going after some of the biggest chemical companies in court, including the manufacturers of popular pesticides atrazine and glyphosate, better known as Roundup, both of which were singled out in the report. Atrazine is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that harms the body's hormone systems and how they function. It is widely used as an herbicide in industrial farming and corn production, and has been hotly contested over its environmental impacts. Though European regulators have banned it, EPA increased the amount of atrazine it considered safe for frogs and other aquatic organisms during Trump's previous term. The Biden-era EPA later criticized that move as politically motivated rather than science-based. Atrazine has been a favorite target of Kennedy, who has repeatedly made false claims that the herbicide causes 'gender confusion' among kids, 'destroying them.' His claims echoed ones famously made by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who in 2017 went viral for saying there were 'chemicals in the water that turn the friggin' frogs gay.' Lori Ann Burd, the Center for Biological Diversity's environmental health director, said she believed the report would include more direct scrutiny on atrazine. 'The report's acknowledgment of pesticides' risks to our children's health is a small step forward,' Burd said in a statement. 'But it's clear that Big Ag was successful in strong-arming EPA Administrator Zeldin, Agriculture Secretary Rollins and their puppets in Congress to make sure this administration's focus will continue to be on protecting not American's health, but industry profits.' Reach the reporters on Signal at eborst.64 and Awitt.40.
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Health
- Reuters
White House report to outline causes of America's declining health
WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - A commission led by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and tasked by President Donald Trump with investigating chronic illness is set to deliver a report outlining its findings on Thursday. Trump signed an executive order in February establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission to investigate chronic illness and deliver an action plan to fight childhood diseases. Thursday's report outlining the causes was due this week and will be followed by a strategy document due in August. The commission is jointly run by HHS and the White House, with Kennedy serving as its chair and the Domestic Policy Council chief as executive director. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and other cabinet members sit on it, as do federal health agency chiefs and senior White House officials. Supporters of Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement for which the commission is named, said they expected it to outline causes they had long blamed for the decline in American health and sum up Kennedy's accomplishments during his first 100 days in the job, but that it would bring no surprises. "Nobody's talked about any bombshells coming out or anything like that," said Jeff Hutt, who was national field director of Kennedy's presidential campaign and now runs a group supporting his food and health goals. The report is likely to outline efforts Kennedy has already announced, said Hutt, including studying the safety of vaccines, making changes to the food safety process, and removing some dyes and petroleum-based products from the food supply. The report will also tackle pesticides, drawing concern from farm groups that are wary of what it will say about glyphosate. Some environmental groups argue the use of the chemical to dry crops and harvest them faster leads to human exposure of it. Farm lobby groups warned that criticizing specific farm practices could impede collaboration on the administration's health agenda and put food production at risk. The groups should not be worried, said Hutt, because Kennedy has already publicly reassured them there would be nothing in the report they would find shocking or upsetting. It will likely focus on data and raising awareness, rather than policy proposals, said prominent MAHA activist Vani Hari, who authors "The Food Babe" blog. "Once somebody learns this information, they can't unlearn it, and it changes their behavior," she said. "They make different purchasing decisions at the grocery store."
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
With Its NYSE Listing Looming, Elizabeth Warren Has Questions For JBS
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) It's been quite a week, and I don't just mean for those of us who are all-in on the second season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. I can't stop thinking about the casts' extremely complicated orders at Utah-based soda chain Swig and what my go-to would be. I think I'd commit to the sparkling water-based fruity refreshers like Mikayla. But this subset of Mormons are not the only ones making food headlines recently. To start off, the JBS saga continues. After my feature published last week on the billionaire Batista brothers and the looming New York Stock Exchange listing of their meat conglomerate JBS, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to the CEOs of JBS USA and Pilgrims' Pride questioning whether Pilgrims' $5 million donation to this year's inauguration was done 'to curry favor with the Trump administration.' The analysts I've spoken with expect a windfall for JBS shareholders, including the Batistas, if the listing goes through. But JPMorgan analysts are now preparing for the opposite. In their latest report, analysts who cover JBS for JPMorgan said they created a hedging strategy to protect shareholders in case shares drop. The final shareholder vote on the listing is this Friday, May 23. I'm no Steve Kornacki, but I'll be watching the results closely. I'm also looking out for the highly anticipated MAHA assessment report on causes of chronic childhood diseases, which is set to be released on Thursday. It is expected to take on pesticides used in farming, which has become a source of Trump Administration in-fighting, according to the Wall Street Journal. Also on the docket are other known factors for disease in children, like diet, lack of exercise and screen time. And for those who are in New York City with me, I'd love to see you to celebrate the documentary The Price of Milk, which is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, June 8, with an additional screening on Thursday, June 12. I did a few interviews for the film a few years ago, and I'm excited to finally see it all come to life! Ahead of the upcoming holiday weekend, I'm curious, what's on your barbecue lineup? I've enjoyed the image going around online for a fake cookbook aptly titled How To Cook Like The People You Just Deported: Authentic Ethnic Flavors For Bigots Who Don't Deserve Them. There's a lot to reflect on this weekend, and I hope you have a good one. — Chloe Sorvino This is Forbes' Fresh Take newsletter, which every Wednesday brings you the latest on the big ideas changing the future of food. Want to get it in your inbox every week? Sign up here. A dust storm that originated in central Illinois moves through downtown Chicago on the evening of Friday, May 16, 2025. A 2025 Dust Up: I'm coming off my paperback book tour, so I've been sounding the alarms on climate change and extreme weather for months. And when I've mentioned that another Dust Bowl is coming, people sometimes roll their eyes. But the news of recent dust storms in Illinois are just more proof. The images of what the New York Times describes as 'a wall of dust' are foreboding at best. A bicyclist fills a water bottle from a water fountain on May 16, 2025 in Miami, Florida. Dirty Water: The Trump Administration is weakening water pollution laws, and dismantling landmark protections against PFAS, which are the toxic forever chemicals that have been present in public drinking water for decades due to industry deception and government inaction. Even at low levels, PFAS have been linked to cancer, reproductive harm, immune system damage and other serious health problems. The Environmental Working Group describes the move as 'a shocking reversal of one of the most significant public health victories in a generation' that will put millions at risk and let polluters like 3M and Dupont off the hook. EWG cofounder and president Ken Cook said 'This is a betrayal of public health at the highest level. You can't make America healthy while allowing toxic chemicals to flow freely from our taps.' Banners showing images of Donald Trump and Abraham Lincoln hanging off the side of the Department of Agriculture building in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 2025. New Headshots Dropped: While facing criticism for budget cuts to programs, grant funding and staffing as well as threats to relocate out of D.C., USDA headquarters in Washington now has, according to Civil Eats' Food Policy Tracker, a giant banner of President Donald Trump side-by-side with another of former President Abraham Lincoln, who founded the department. The installation marks the USDA's 163rd anniversary. Chloe Sorvino Wild foraged ramps make a mean pesto, and that's all I needed to make this mafalde pasta sing this week. I had to obtain some ramps before the season ended, and after making pesto, I also whipped up a ramp butter and pickled the bulbs. Thanks for reading the 143rd edition of Forbes Fresh Take! Let me know what you think. Subscribe to Forbes Fresh Take here.
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Health
- Reuters
US health secretary Kennedy says MAHA report coming out on Thursday
WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Tuesday that the MAHA Commission report President Donald Trump tasked him producing would come out on Thursday. Trump signed an executive order to establish a commission to "Make America Healthy Again," during Kennedy's swearing in ceremony on February 13 and tasked it with investigating chronic illness and delivering an action plan to fight childhood diseases, starting with a report due within 100 days. "You'll see the report. It's going to be released on Thursday. Everybody will see the report," Kennedy told a Senate subcommittee hearing in response to questions about the contents of the report and its impact on agriculture.
