EPA’s Proposed Changes to Chemical Risk Evaluations Threaten Americans’ Health

(WASHINGTON – September 22, 2025) The United States Environmental Protection Agency proposed altering the way it conducts risk evaluations for chemicals already in use under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

“The chemicals we’re exposed to every day should be rigorously evaluated so we know they’re safe, whether they enter our homes in things like household cleaners, or whether they’re released into the air we breathe outside. Rather than looking at the full picture of a chemical’s toxic risk, EPA wants to downplay the links these chemicals have to cancer and chronic disease and give the chemical industry a handout at the expense of our health and safety. The chemicals in the pipeline for review under TSCA have been prioritized specifically because of the risks they pose to our health, and rewriting this process to lowball risks will only rig the rules to benefit the chemical industry.

“A thorough, science-backed evaluation of a chemical’s risk is especially essential for the people most at risk of getting sick from exposure: workers, children and families living near chemical plants. With chemical industry insiders at the helm, the Trump EPA is once again ignoring science at the expense of our health.”

• Maria Doa, Senior Director, Chemicals Policy

Related: Cumulative Risk Assessment framework