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Unless women’s lived realities are embedded in AI's foundations, it risks reinforcing the very inequities it claims to solve.

West Virginia bill to ban harmful food chemicals from schools clears key vote Iris Myers February 27, 2026 CHARLESTON, W.V. – Today the West Virginia Senate passed a bill, introduced by West Virginia Sen. Brian Helton (R-District 9), to protect school children in the state from harmful food chemicals. The Environmental Working Group supports the bill, S.B. 745. If enacted, it would ban West Virginia public schools from serving food containing 23 additives.The additives are: titanium dioxide, butylated hydroxytoluene, butylated hydroxyanisole, tert-butylhydroquinone, sodium benzoate, propyl gallate, azodicarbonamide, aloe vera, propylparaben, potassium bromate, butylparaben, acetaldehyde, propylene oxide, ethoxyquin, acrolein, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame K, diacetyl, octyl gallate, dodecyl gallate, calcium bromate and calcium sorbate.All 23 chemicals listed in the bill are linked to health problems, including harm to the reproductive and hormone systems and even cancer.The following is a statement from Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs:Food served to children shouldn’t contain chemicals that can harm their health or make it harder for them to learn. Yet decades of broken federal oversight have left thousands of food chemicals on grocery store shelves and in school meals without thorough safety reviews. Some have not been reviewed in more than 40 years. The Food and Drug Administration has no plan to fix that. In the absence of federal leadership, West Virginia’s Senate Bill 745 is a commonsense step toward protecting kids by removing harmful additives from school foods. This is practical and doable: The vast majority of the substances S.B. 745 addresses aren’t widely used in school meals today, and food companies have shown they can reformulate quickly when required.Faber testified on Feb. 17 in support of S.B. 745 in front of the West Virginia Senate Health and Human Resources Committee.The legislation is the most recent in a series of state-led efforts to regulate harmful food chemicals. In 2025, eight states passed laws banning or restricting use of various food chemicals in public schools, and others, including Utah, Virginia and West Virginia, have passed statewide bans.S.B. 745 will next be heard in the West Virginia House.###The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action. Areas of Focus Food & Water Food Toxic Chemicals Food Chemicals Press Contact Iris Myers iris@ewg.org (202) 939-9126 February 27, 2026

If Trump won’t ban glyphosate, he can at least reduce kids’ exposure to it JR Culpepper February 27, 2026 Last week, President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to boost the American supply of glyphosate-based herbicides, declaring the controversial weedkiller essential to national security. For many in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, the grassroots army of health-conscience voters who helped propel him back into office, it was an utter betrayal.On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump promised to crack down on pesticides in food. He embraced Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s long-running crusade against toxic chemicals like glyphosate and pledged to put him in charge of cleaning up the nation’s food supply.Kennedy, now secretary of Health and Human Services, has repeatedly warned that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, can cause cancer. As a plaintiffs’ attorney, he was part of the legal team that helped secure multimillion dollar verdicts against Roundup maker Bayer-Monsanto for failing to warn consumers about glyphosate’s dangers.Who dictates pesticide policy?Although Kennedy frequently promised to curtail pesticide use when he was supporting Trump’s presidential campaign, he does not control U.S. pesticide policy. That authority rests with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, who is also a member of President Trump’s MAHA commission, which Kennedy chairs. If Kennedy is to deliver on his promises, the administration must take action on pesticides soon or risk revealing his campaign promises as a cynical ploy to convince people to support Trump. In December 2025, Zeldin promised the EPA would soon unveil its own MAHA agenda.But months later, that agenda has yet to materialize. Now many MAHA leaders are openly calling for Zeldin’s removal, saying his policy actions run counter to the movement’s mission. Those actions include rolling back or weakening protections targeting air and water pollution and toxic chemicals, greenlighting at least five pesticides that contain the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, and renewing approval of the herbicide dicamba.But there is a concrete step that Zeldin – and Kennedy – could take in response to something that’s been moldering in the EPA’s inbox since Trump’s first term. In 2019, EWG and nearly 20 companies formally petitioned the EPA to drastically lower the allowable “tolerance” – the amount that may remain in food – for glyphosate residues in one particular food: oats. Oat-based foods, from breakfast cereals to granola bars and snack products heavily marketed to children, are among the leading sources of dietary glyphosate exposure in the U.S. The current federal tolerance stands at 30 parts per million, or ppm. EWG asked the agency to drastically reduce that limit, to 0.1 ppm, arguing that the higher threshold fails to account for the pesticide’s association with cancer risk and the especially high dietary exposure faced by children.Why oats? Lowering the tolerance could in turn lead to less glyphosate on food, kids’ exposure and associated health risks.EWG has found high levels of glyphosate in these foods, compared to other foods, such as bread. Glyphosate is typically applied pre-harvest to control weeds. It’s also applied as a desiccant, a way to dry out the crop more quickly and make it easier to harvest. Although use of glyphosate as a desiccant for oats isn’t common in the U.S., it is permitted in Canada, a major supplier of oats to American food manufacturers. That means glyphosate residues can make their way into food sold to U.S. families, with children facing disproportionate exposure. The petition submitted to the EPA by EWG and other groups calls on the agency to close this loophole and explicitly lower the allowable level of glyphosate in oats grown for the U.S. market.EPA has the power to actEWG’s petition lays out in painstaking detail the toxicological data, dietary exposure assessments and cancer risk calculations. Yet it has languished for years at the EPA without resolution, even while the agency received more than 100,000 public comments urging action.If Zeldin is serious about aligning the EPA with MAHA principles, he could dust off that petition and make it a centerpiece of his long-promised agenda. Lowering the glyphosate tolerance in oats wouldn’t ban the weedkiller, though that’s what Kennedy promised and many in the MAHA movement demanded. But it would signal that the administration is at least willing to consider risks where the scientific evidence and exposure routes intersect most acutely: foods marketed to children.  Kennedy does not need legal authority over pesticides to wield influence. As a cabinet member and the most prominent face of MAHA, he could publicly urge Zeldin and the EPA to act on the petition’s recommendations. He could frame it as a targeted, “gold standard” science-based measure to reduce childhood exposure to the herbicide he has long criticized. It’s a golden opportunity to set themselves apart from the Biden administration, which also failed to act on our petition. Lowering weedkiller levelsAn EPA (or HHS) response to EWG’s glyphosate petition might not satisfy every MAHA activist angry over Trump’s action to spur glyphosate production and hand Bayer-Monsanto immunity from litigation. But it would lower the levels of the weedkiller in many popular foods millions of children eat every day.The petition is already submitted. The science is solid. The real question now is, did MAHA leaders in the administration ever mean to protect public health? Or was it always just a scam to con health-conscience voters into supporting Trump?  Zeldin and Kennedy, here is the glyphosate petition for your review and approval. Areas of Focus Toxic Chemicals Glyphosate Pesticides Authors Alex Formuzis JR Culpepper February 27, 2026

Senate proposal would gut key provisions of chemical safety law Monica Amarelo February 26, 2026 WASHINGTON – In a coordinated assault on public health, the Senate introduced a proposal to dismantle the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, the nation’s primary defense against hazardous chemicals. The draft legislation, along with a House bill released in January, would effectively strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its power to keep cancer-causing substances out of cleaning supplies, toys, furniture and other products.If signed into law, either proposal would undercut core protections against toxic chemicals in consumer products and drinking water. They would open the marketplace to new substances that have not been reviewed for links to reproductive harms, learning disabilities and chronic disease, with no proof they’re safe for children, pregnant people or workers.By forcing the EPA to speed up chemical approvals and weaken safety requirements, even when corporations provide zero safety data, the legislation would transform the agency into a rubber-stamp office for the chemical industry.The proposals would: Fast-track approval of untested chemicals. Forces the EPA to clear new industrial chemicals within rigid, shortened deadlines, even when manufacturers provide incomplete safety data on cancer risk, reproductive harm or developmental toxicity.Leave people and workers exposed. Allows the chemical industry to override independent science and health protections for families, workers and communities.The chemical industry has spent millions lobbying for weaker regulations. These proposals deliver their wish list: faster approvals, lower safety standards and weakening of the EPA’s power to demand health data before dangerous substances reach consumers.The Environmental Working Group joins the Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals in calling on Congress to reject these harmful proposals. Instead, lawmakers should fully implement the bipartisan chemical safety reforms enacted in 2016, ensuring public health protections come before corporate profits.The Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals brings together leading organizations and networks in a coordinated effort to defend TSCA from rollbacks and fight for strong health protections from toxic chemicals. The passage of the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act in 2016 with overwhelming bipartisan support modernized TSCA to ensure that new chemicals are reviewed for safety before entering the marketplace and that the EPA can act on dangerous chemicals that harm the health of children, workers and communities. Since then, the EPA has used this authority to ban deadly asbestos and methylene chloride, restrict cancer-causing chemicals like trichloroethylene, and block certain “forever chemicals” known as PFAS from entering commerce.The following is a statement from Melanie Benesh, EWG’s vice president for government affairs: This is a gift for the chemical industry and will not make America healthier.Members of Congress are working to dismantle a decade of bipartisan progress on public health. If enacted, this legislation would substantially reduce the EPA’s authority to keep hazardous chemicals out of stores, schools and homes, effectively making American families “lab rats” for industry experiments with substances of unknown toxicity. If Congress moves forward with this legislation, it will abandon the bipartisan commitment to chemical safety grounded in science. Rolling back safeguards that protect the developing brain and reproductive health and prevent disease in the long-term is not reform. It is a step backward.###The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action. Areas of Focus Water Household & Consumer Products Toxic Chemicals Chemical Policy Bill would fast-track untested substances into American homes and workplaces Press Contact Monica Amarelo monica@ewg.org (202) 939-9140 February 26, 2026

New proposal in Congress would gut key provisions of landmark chemical safety law, putting families’ health at risk Monica Amarelo February 26, 2026 WASHINGTON – A new Senate draft bill would dismantle core protections of the nation’s main chemical safety law and make it easier for toxic chemicals to enter homes, schools and workplaces, according to the Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals, a national coalition of organizations and networks. The group issued an urgent warning following the release of draft legislation to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, the bipartisan law Congress overhauled in 2016. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has announced a March 4 hearing on the discussion draft.A House proposal that would gut TSCA surfaced in January, signaling a coordinated effort to roll back protections against toxic chemicals and undermine the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to protect public health. The new proposals would: Allow more dangerous chemicals onto the market without meaningful EPA review and approval.Give the chemical industry more power to override independent science and health protections for families, workers, and communities.Allow loopholes for toxic chemicals.Undermine the ability of states to protect their residents, drinking water, and food from toxic chemicals.“Children’s health must come first, yet the chemical industry is now lobbying to weaken the chemical law that protects our families,” said the Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals in a joint statement. “Rolling back chemical safety protections will make it harder to keep out of our lives toxic chemicals linked to cancer, learning disabilities and infertility. Americans should be able to trust that any chemicals in their homes, schools, workplaces and communities won't make them sick,’’ the statement added.Public support for chemical safety protections remains strong across party lines, with overwhelming bipartisan backing for the EPA’s authority to review and restrict dangerous chemicals. The alliance noted that rolling back TSCA would not only increase health risks but also create uncertainty for businesses that have already adapted to the law’s requirements.The Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals brings together leading organizations and networks in a coordinated effort to defend TSCA from rollbacks and fight for strong health protections from toxic chemicals. Passage of the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, in 2016, with overwhelming bipartisan support modernized TSCA to ensure that new chemicals are reviewed for safety before entering the marketplace and that the EPA can act on dangerous chemicals that harm the health of children, workers and communities. Since then, the EPA has used this authority to ban deadly asbestos and methylene chloride, restrict cancer-causing chemicals like trichloroethylene and block certain PFAS from entering commerce.Additional quotes from alliance members“Northern and Arctic Indigenous Peoples suffer some of the highest exposures to persistent toxic chemicals and disease burdens of any population on earth. Weakening TSCA will strip the law of its provisions to prevent harmful and cumulative exposures to persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals,’’ said Pamela Miller, executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics.“With breast cancer rates unacceptably high in the U.S. and rising among younger women, we cannot weaken federal safeguards against cancer-causing and hormone-disrupting chemicals in our products and environment,” said Nancy Buermeyer, director of program and policy at Breast Cancer Prevention Partners. “Preventing toxic exposures is essential to protecting women’s health and reducing breast cancer risk.”“Reopening TSCA will lead to the increased proliferation of chemical recycling, which has an abysmal track record, does nothing to solve the plastic crisis, and in fact puts even more toxic chemicals into our environment,” said Judith Enck, former EPA regional administrator and president of Beyond Plastics. “Every community is harmed by toxic chemicals. But communities living near the facilities where these chemicals are manufactured have some of the highest rates of cancer, asthma and COPD in the nation,” said Dr. Jamala Djinn, science and policy advisor at Break Free From Plastic. “Since the 2016 amendments to TSCA, EPA has taken concrete steps to begin to protect these communities from the thousands of different chemicals they’re simultaneously being exposed to. If this proposal were to become law, it would eliminate any progress made and further endanger these communities.”“Regardless of political party, the American public has been clear: It does not want to be poisoned by toxic chemicals,” said Raúl García, Earthjustice Action vice president of policy and legislation. “Still, Republican congressional leadership insists on weakening the most significant tool we have to protect our families from toxics. This bill would unravel the EPA’s authority to review new and existing chemicals and assess their risks to human health while undermining science’s role in federal decision-making. It’s a wishlist for the chemical industry that would lead to a more toxic environment and more poisoned children. We urge Congress to reject it.” “Americans across party lines oppose weakening our bedrock chemical safety protections,” said Joanna Slaney, Environmental Defense Fund vice president for political and government affairs. “The Toxic Substances Control Act helps keep the worst toxic chemicals out of our homes and communities, and it was passed with bipartisan support. The only voices calling for Congress to roll back these essential public health standards are coming from industry.”“This proposal is a dangerous giveaway that lets the chemical industry fast-track new chemicals into everyday products without requiring companies to prove they’re safe,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group. “It hands manufacturers a free pass while consumers and families shoulder the risk. Americans shouldn’t be unwitting test subjects for chemicals in their food, water, homes and workplaces.”"Cancer. Infertility. Developmental delays in children. All three are linked to exposure to toxic chemicals, and this proposal would make it easier to put these harmful chemicals into our food, products, water and air, regardless of the damage to the health of people. Instead of creating a glide path for increased toxic pollution, the Senate should be rejecting the chemical industry’s bid to make America more contaminated so it can further line its pockets,” said Avi Kar, director of Toxics at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “For years, states have acted to protect residents from toxic chemicals when federal safeguards fell short,” said Gretchen Salter, policy director for Safer States. “Weakening TSCA ignores the public’s demand for stronger protections. Lawmakers should reinforce and strengthen national health protections, not undermine them. Families deserve consistent, science-based safeguards no matter where they live.”“The Senate draft turns back the clock on protecting the health of our families and communities from toxic chemicals,” said Liz Hitchcock, director of federal policy at Toxic-Free Future. “Congress should stop dangerous chemicals before they contaminate our food, our homes and our children’s bodies. Instead they are proposing to weaken protections so there are even more toxic chemicals that can increase cancer, infertility, and other serious health harms.”About the Alliance for Health and Safe ChemicalsThe Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals is a national coalition of organizations and networks united around the principle: put people’s health first. The alliance fights for national protections to prevent harm from toxic chemicals that contribute to cancer, infertility, learning disabilities and other health challenges. We work for justice and health for all, wherever you live, work and play.The Alliance is a growing coalition of nearly 40 local, state and national organizations including: Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American Sustainable Business Network, Beyond Plastics, Break Free From Plastics, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, CASE Citizens Alliance for a Sustainable Englewood, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Public Environmental Oversight, Cherokee Concerned Citizens, Clean+Healthy, Clean Air Council, Clean Beauty for Black Girls, Clean Cape Fear, Clean Water Action, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Earthjustice, Ecology Center, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Working Group, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, Green Science Policy Institute, League of Conservation Voters, Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water, Moms Clean Air Force, Move Past Plastic (MPPP), Newburgh Clean Water Project, NRDC, Oregon Environmental Council, PFOAProjectNY, Puget Soundkeeper, Safer States, Save Our Water S.O.H2O, Toxic-Free Future, Vermont Conservation Voters, Vermont Natural Resources Council, Waterspirit, and Zero Waste Ithaca.###MEDIA CONTACTSFor the Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals: Stephanie Stohler, sstohler@toxicfreefuture.orgFor ACAT: Pamela Miller, pamela@akaction.org For BCPP: Erika Wilhelm, erika@bcpp.org For Beyond Plastics: Melissa Valliant, melissavalliant@bennington.edu For BFFP: Brett Nadrich, brett@breakfreefromplastic.org For Earthjustice: Geoffrey Nolan, gnolan@earthjustice.org For EDF: Lexi Ambrogi, lambrogi@edf.org For EWG: Monica Amarelo, monica@ewg.org          For NRDC: Margie Kelly, mkelly@nrdc.orgFor Toxic-Free Future and Safer States: Stephanie Stohler, sstohler@toxicfreefuture.org###The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.  Areas of Focus Toxic Chemicals Chemical Policy Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals warns proposals would fast-track approvals of potentially toxic chemicals, weaken protections and hand industry new power over EPA decisions Press Contact Monica Amarelo monica@ewg.org (202) 939-9140 February 26, 2026