Trump's EPA Helped Erase Records of Almost 270,000 Pounds of Carcinogenic Pollution

Summary: <p>The Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration invited companies to retroactively amend emissions records of a deadly carcinogenic chemical. This week on Intercepted: Investigative reporter Sharon Lerner explains how 270,000 pounds of the chemical <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/03/18/epa-pollution-cancer-ethylene-oxide/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ethylene oxide</a> vanished from the public record right after the EPA determined that it was more toxic than previously known. Ethylene oxide is a colorless and odorless gas used to produce many consumer goods and used extensively as an agent in the sterilization of medical equipment.</p><br><p>Despite the EPA’s transition to new leadership under the Biden administration, regulatory capture is a persistent obstacle in the agency’s ability to protect public health and the environment. And as Lerner <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/03/18/epa-pollution-cancer-ethylene-oxide/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reports</a>, a disproportionate number of poor communities and communities of color have yet to be alerted to the fact that elevated levels of cancer-causing ethylene oxide permeate the air they breathe. We also hear from a group of Texas women that believes their breast cancer diagnoses are linked to exposure to the chemical.</p><br><hr><p style="color:grey;font-size:0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a style="color:grey;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://acast.com/privacy">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>