EPA stalls long-planned nitrate cancer review as pollution crisis grows

EPA stalls long-planned nitrate cancer review as pollution crisis grows

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has backed off its re-assessment of cancer-causing nitrates despite decades of research suggesting the contaminant is more harmful than previously thought and that nitrate pollution is at crisis levels in US drinking water.  The agency would not confirm the assessment was cancelled, but the work has been stagnant for more than two years and the department responsible for it was eliminated. And scienti…

Despite the health crisis in Iowa and beyond, the EPA has stalled its long-planned nitrate cancer review

President Trump watches as EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announces on Feb. 12, 2026 that the Trump administration is rescinding the 2009 EPA finding that allowed the agency to regulate greenhouse gases. — Daniel Torok/White House photo The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has backed off its reassessment of cancer-causing nitrates despite decades of research suggesting the contaminant is more harmful than previously thought and that nitrate p…