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Trump takes 500 actions to weaken cancer protections, new report says
The Natural Resources Defense Council says the Trump administration has taken more than 500 actions that could weaken protections against cancer-causing substances. The report argues that changes across federal agencies may increase public exposure to carcinogens, at a time when some cancers among younger people are rising.
The changes include weakening scientific methods used to assess exposure, delaying rules on asbestos, supporting continued use of glyphosate, cutting research funding and reducing cancer research staff. The EPA has begun replacing the assumption that any exposure to a carcinogen carries some risk with a threshold approach that treats some exposure as safe; this has already led to weaker formaldehyde protections. US officials estimate more than 2 million cancer diagnoses this year, while colon cancer rates among people under 50 rose nearly 3% annually from 2013 to 2022.
In short
- NRDC reports more than 500 actions affecting carcinogen protections.
- EPA has weakened formaldehyde protections using a new risk approach.
- US cancer trends are rising in several groups and types.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The report’s case is that weakening exposure standards, delaying restrictions and cutting research capacity could leave people with greater contact with substances linked to cancer, while making risks harder to detect and regulate. Given the long latency of many cancers and rising rates of some cancers among younger people, advocates argue that precautionary protections and well-funded research are justified even when the precise risk at low exposure is uncertain.
The case against
A case for the administration’s approach is that regulation should distinguish meaningful hazards from negligible exposures, rather than assume every exposure carries the same practical risk. Officials may argue that threshold-based assessments and continued use of chemicals such as glyphosate can support proportionate rules, avoid unnecessary costs to industry and consumers, and direct limited research and enforcement resources towards the greatest risks.
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