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Trump takes 500 actions to weaken cancer protections, new report says

Amid a surge in early onset cancer, the Trump administration has taken
more than 500 actions to systematically dismantle protections against
carcinogens once in place across the federal government, an October report
alleges.

The Natural Resources Defense Council report, and comments from
current and former officials from the Environmental Protection Agency,
bring into focus how myriad changes in federal rules or protocol will
dramatically increase the public’s exposure to carcinogens.

These are
taking effect at a time when some forms of early onset cancer are spiking
by about 30% per decade. Some of the changes have drawn widespread outrage
and backlash, including the administration delaying new protections around
asbestos, or siding with Bayer in its fight to keep the carcinogenic
pesticide glyphosate on the market. But most changes lie in the nuts and
bolts of the federal government.

These include alterations to important
scientific processes that determine the level of risk people face in
exposure to carcinogens. With a few minor adjustments, once-problematic
levels of exposure to carcinogens, like formaldehyde, are no longer
considered a danger in the federal government’s eyes.

Nuclear regulators
are also eliminating the obligation to reduce exposure to radioactive
carcinogens to the lowest reasonably achievable level, despite decades of
scientific evidence that any level of radiation poses a cancer risk, the
report states.

Guardian 5th Nov 2026,
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/05/trump-cancer-carcinogen-regulation

November 11, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA