Stay informed

Half-fixes cause more harm. When water utilities only partially replace lead pipes, it increases the risk of lead exposure for residents.

This site provides information to help communities facilitate full lead service line replacement.

A map that showcases the 2020 mercury emissions from the most polluting coal plants.

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards reduce mercury, soot, lead, and other toxic pollution from our nation’s coal-fired power plants.

Statement of Sarah Vogel, Senior Vice President for Healthy Communities - October 8, 2024

What’s New?  With more than 70,000 lead service lines, Milwaukee holds the #5 spot in our top 10 cities with the most lead pipes. But the city is taking action to get the lead out. Officials are implementing a robust replacement program that leverages federal funding to focus on neighborhoods that need it the most.  …

As part of Project 11, muck dredged out of the heavily industrialized Houston Ship Channel will be dumped in residential communities. Residents want to know what's in it.

NOTE: This is the second of a series about EPA’s prioritization of existing chemicals.  What Happened?  EPA just proposed to designate five chemicals, including the widely-known toxic chemical vinyl chloride, as high-priority chemicals – meaning they are toxic to human and/or environmental health.  If finalized, these chemicals will immediately undergo the risk evaluation process under …

Methylene chloride, a highly toxic chemical used to strip paint for decades, is being phased out for most uses, thanks to a new rule from the EPA.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit late Wednesday rejected an emergency stay that would have delayed critical parts of an Environmental Protection Agency action to reduce cancer-causing pollution—in particular, the highly carcinogenic pollutant chloroprene.

NOTE: This is the first of a series about EPA’s prioritization of existing chemicals.   What Happened?  EPA recently announced it had initiated the prioritization process for five chemicals for upcoming risk evaluation.  One of the chemicals, vinyl chloride, is a highly toxic chemical known to cause liver toxicity and liver cancer in humans. The other …

Hurricanes are obviously destructive, but they also carry a hidden danger — toxic chemicals in the air and water.

Earthjustice clients and Environmental Defense Fund moved to intervene in a lawsuit designed to stop an Environmental Protection Agency action that would significantly reduce cancer-causing pollution. 

  What happened The Good Food Foundation recently announced its annual awards recognizing foods with both superior taste and responsible business practices, sparking controversy when a plant-based blue ‘cheese’ product was initially a finalist in the cheese category, then was disqualified and removed from the list of finalists. According to the foundation, the product was …

(This post was co-authored by EDF analyst Jolie Villegas) The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent updates of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards include several steps that provide substantial public health benefits by reducing toxic air pollution from coal plants. In our last blog post we wrote about one of those steps – closing the “lignite …

By Lindsay McCormick, Senior Manager, Safer Chemicals and Roya Alkafaji, Manager, Healthy Communities  What’s New?  President Biden recently announced $3 billion in federal funding for lead service line replacement. In the third year of this historic $15 billion investment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to replace harmful lead pipes across the U.S., there is an …

Cancer Alley, a stretch of land in Louisiana known for its high cancer rates and heavy industrialization, has a glimmer of hope as the EPA looks to cut down on toxic air pollution.

Long-awaited Action Will Save Lives of Workers and Eliminate All Consumer Uses

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the filing of a food additive petition that asks FDA to remove its approval of the use of fluorinated polyethylene as an indirect food additive. The petition was submitted by Environmental Defense Fund, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Center for Food Safety, Environmental Working Group and Tom Neltner on January 22, 2024.

Statement of Sarah Vogel, Senior Vice President, Healthy Communities

EDF identified 10 cities in the U.S. with the most lead service lines (LSLs) based on numbers reported in 2021. These cities collectively have over one million LSLs, representing 12% of the 9.2 million EPA estimates are in the country.

A chemical company has dropped its plans to burn plastic waste in a small Pennsylvania town, but the industry is still pushing this risky, polluting technology. With the world’s first global plastics treaty on the line, health and environmental advocates are pushing back against the industry’s fake plastic recycling solution. 

The process to make petrochemicals, which are found in everything from plastics to fertilizers to yoga pants, exposes nearby communities to serious health risks, like cancer and respiratory illnesses, says Tonya Calhoun of the Environmental Defense Fund, shown in front of banner on Cancer Alley in Louisiana.

Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, is an industrial chemical that’s commonly used in household plastics and food packaging. BPA has been classified as an endocrine-disrupting chemical.

By Maria Doa, PhD, Senior Director, Chemicals Policy, Maricel Maffini, PhD, Consultant, and Liora Fiksel, Project Manager, Healthy Communities   What happened You may have seen news or online content from FDA about chemicals in our foods, including that our food – and everything else in the world – is made up of chemicals. FDA’s …