The Trump administration announced Monday that it will drop some limits on \u201cforever chemicals\u201d in drinking water that officials had determined can cause cancer and other serious health problems \u2014 angering some key activists who had supported President Trump\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n
The Environmental Protection Agency said it would unravel the nation\u2019s first federal drinking water limits for the compounds, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The Biden administration established the limits on six of the substances in 2024, after the agency determined<\/a> that long-term exposure to PFAS was linked to kidney cancer, immune system suppression, developmental delays in infants and children and other issues.<\/p>\n Instead, the Trump administration will issue narrower regulations that rescind protections for four of the substances and continue to protect against two of the them, though companies will be able to request two extra years to comply with those.<\/p>\n But the move, which had been planned for more than a year, has sparked fury within the Make America Healthy Again movement, a diverse group of anti-vaccine activists, wellness influencers and others who make up a key part of Mr. Trump\u2019s coalition.<\/p>\n Lee Zeldin, the E.P.A. administrator, sought to counter that anger by appearing Monday with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary who spearheaded the MAHA movement, and announcing nearly $1 billion to help states address the contaminants in drinking water.<\/p>\n \u201cThey persist in the environment, they build up in the human body, and addressing them is not optional. It is essential to making America healthy again,\u201d Mr. Zeldin said at an event in the wood-paneled Map Room on the first floor of the E.P.A. headquarters.<\/p>\n Mr. Zeldin argued that the Biden administration made procedural errors with its drinking water standards and said his E.P.A. will regulate \u201cthe right way, following the law and following the science.\u201d He has also raised concerns that water systems could pass costs on to consumers if the compliance deadline wasn\u2019t pushed back. The Biden administration had estimated the rule would cost about $1.5 billion to implement each year, but Congress in 2020 provided about $9 billion to improve drinking water and address chemicals like PFAS.<\/p>\n The Trump administration will continue to protect communities from the chemicals present in the tap water of millions of Americans, Mr. Zeldin said. He highlighted the work of companies that create technologies to capture and destroy the substances.<\/p>\n Mr. Kennedy insisted that the Biden administration\u2019s drinking water standard would not have survived a court challenge, and that the Trump administration had no choice but to start the regulatory process over. Chemical manufacturers had already sued over the Biden-era standards<\/a>. Both Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Zeldin suggested future protections might ultimately be stronger than the earlier rules.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president is completely committed to removing PFAS,\u201d the health secretary said.<\/p>\n Many activists in the MAHA base have already expressed disillusionment with the Trump administration over its backing of a controversial weed killer<\/a> and previous plans to delay deadlines<\/a> for water utilities to limit two types of PFAS in drinking water. Some on Monday described the E.P.A.\u2019s effort to describe their plan as positive for public health as misleading, despite more than a dozen mentions of \u201cMake American Healthy Again\u201d at the PFAS event.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have more than enough evidence to show that forever chemicals are harmful to human health,\u201d said Kelly Ryerson, who is known as the Glyphosate Girl on social media, \u201cI would strongly advise the E.P.A. not to move forward on deregulating PFAS if they want to win the November midterms.\u201d<\/p>\n PFAS compounds are man-made and found in a wide range of consumer products including dental floss, baby bibs and fast-food wrappers. The substances help clothing and carpets resist stains and are an important ingredient in firefighting foam. But they are called forever chemicals because they also resist breaking down, lingering in the environment and accumulating in the body.<\/p>\n