The Health Consequences of the EPA Rollbacks Will Make Us Sick

Drs. Jill Denny, Annemarie Dooley, Anna Janecek, Breck Lebegue, Anita Peñuelas, and Mark Vossler are members of the Climate and Health Task Force at Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility

Fifty years ago, thick smog enveloped American cities, choking our air and contributing to thousands of deaths . Back then, air pollution wasn’t an inconvenience- it was a public health crisis. Leaders responded by passing the Clean Air Act. Through 2020, that legislation has prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths and prevented millions of hospitalizations. Thanks to this act, levels of lead and small particulates in the air have also dropped dramatically. Industrial processes are cleaner. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that for each dollar invested in clean air, we reap ten dollars  in economic and health benefits.

As physicians and nurses we see the toll pollution takes on our patients daily.  Our patients frequently report worsened symptoms on bad air quality days. For children with asthma, we see the same effects. Newborn babies experience irreversible damage from exposure to air pollution.  Many people in the US can struggle to breathe even on good days, but when the air turns toxic, it can often send them to the emergency department and the ICU. 

Instead of helping children, those with chronic illness, and those in overburdened communities, the EPA is rolling back the regulations needed to protect them.  This is a failure of duty and a breach of EPA’s core mission to “protect human health and the environment.”  

These rollbacks are vast and dangerous. They include lowering air and water quality emissions standards for power plants, reducing vehicle emissions standards, eliminating the methane reduction program, revising the 2009 endangerment finding, and loosening the hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) reduction program. We have written an explainer on these rollbacks here.

With these rollbacks, we’ll see increased levels of pollutants including small particulates (PM 2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), and ground level ozone.  These toxins exacerbate asthma, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, worsen obstructive lung disease, increase risk of cancer disease risk, and are associated with a higher risk of premature deaths, particularly in urban areas.

Making matters worse, these rollbacks ignore decades of health research showing the benefits of climate and health safeguards. Rolling back EPA oversight sets us up for worsening climate risks, such as extreme heat and respiratory illnesses, leading to even more hospitalizations. 

Members of President Trump’s cabinet  have expressed an intention of making America healthier by tackling chronic disease. Their actions do the opposite. It is impossible to make America healthier without also making our air and water cleaner. 

We must call for a stand against these rollbacks and demand protections for our communities. Congress must strengthen the EPA’s legislative mandate. Here in Washington, we need to strengthen our state and local protections against exposure to toxic pollution. As our readers, you must contact your elected officials and demand action. 

Rolling back these protections will not make us safer or healthier. It will cost lives.