1. United States
2. Kan.
3. Letter

The science is no longer disputed. A UC San Francisco study of 160,000 veterans found those exposed to TCE-contaminated water developed Parkinson’s disease at a 70% higher rate than veterans at clean bases (JAMA Neurology, 2023). TCE has also been classified as a known carcinogen since 2012, linked to kidney cancer, liver damage, and birth defects. The chemical contaminates up to 30% of U.S. drinking water supplies, seeps through soil, and rises as invisible vapor into homes and schools. After decades of mounting evidence, the EPA finally banned most TCE uses in December 2024. That should have been the floor for stronger protections. Instead, the Trump administration froze enforcement within days of taking office. What’s happened since is systematic dismantling. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has delayed TCE ban implementation four times, now pushed to November 2025. The administration delayed PFAS “forever chemical” drinking water standards, proposed lifting mercury limits from power plants, and terminated over $15 million in chemical safety research grants (ProPublica, July 2025). NIH stopped accepting submissions to its environmental health journal. Researchers studying toxic exposure in pregnant women had their funding yanked. The EPA appointed Nancy Beck, a former American Chemistry Council executive, to oversee chemical regulation. Companies now request safety exemptions via email, and the administration grants them freely. Health Secretary Kennedy warns about “environmental toxins” on television while the agencies responsible for stopping them are gutted behind closed doors. Nearly 90,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s every year. Cancer rates in children have risen for decades. These aren’t abstractions. They’re fathers who can’t hold a fork, kids undergoing chemotherapy before kindergarten. Every delayed regulation, every terminated grant, every industry insider installed at EPA means more preventable suffering. I urge you to demand full implementation of existing chemical bans, restore research funding, and reject any policy that puts corporate convenience above public health. We need stronger environmental protections, not weaker ones. The evidence demands action. So do we.