In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created with the mission of protecting the environment and the human health. Scientists, health experts, and advocates have been working to implement regulations that protect and clean the air and water we breathe. These regulations were not only aimed at improving the air quality, but also reduced carbon emissions that can cause climate change.
Experts say that all of this effort could have been in vain, since this week, the EPA – the department tasked to monitor the nation’s pollution – announced the rollback a large swath environmental regulations. Many of these regulations could worsen the air quality. Experts say this could have serious implications for the health of people.
More than thirty rules have been cut. These include on standards for emissions from industrial air pollutants, vehicles and coal-fired plants.
The EPA also announced on Wednesday that it would formally review a landmark 2009 agency finding that greenhouse gasses are a threat to public health, and should be regulated.
In a video, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that “we are driving a knife straight into the heart” of climate change religion in order to lower the cost of living for American Families, unleash American Energy, and bring back auto jobs to the U.S.
Zeldin argues in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that “these actions will rollback trillions of dollars worth of regulatory costs and hidden tax.”
Zeldin is not the only one who disagrees with his assessment. Scientists, experts and advocates have spent decades assembling the research necessary to support the regulation. Experts say that without the regulations the U.S. would experience air pollution levels similar to those in India, China, or Saudi Arabia. This could worsen health problems for Americans.
Amanda Leland is the executive director of Environmental Defense Fund. This environmental advocacy group. The result will be more cancers, asthma attacks and toxic chemicals. It will cause chaos, not help our economy.
Zeldin will have to defend his efforts to reverse such a broad range of regulations in court, and it could take many years for the case to be litigated. This is a cluster of moves that will demolish an entire swath environmental regulations. Michael Gerrard, an expert in environmental law, says that we’ll soon see if the EPA is blown away by the barrage of lawsuits.
Here are three possible ways that a rollback in environmental regulations may affect the health of Americans.
Memory Loss in Alzheimer’s and brain diseases
Researchers at Scripps Research published a study in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences that found air pollution can cause memory loss and other diseases.
Scientists have discovered that environmental pollutants, such as automobile pollution or wildfire smoke can cause elevated levels of nitric dioxide in the brain. These elevated levels may cause a chemical reaction in the brain, which can accelerate Alzheimer’s and brain aging.
In a press release , Professor Stuart Lipton , a clinical neurologist, stated that “We have revealed the molecular detail of how pollutants can cause memory loss and neurological disease.”
Stillbirths, miscarriages and maternal health
Many studies have demonstrated how air pollution affects maternal health, causing miscarriages and stillbirths as well as low birth weight. Further evidence suggests that minority racial groups who are exposed to pollutants have poorer maternal health than other groups in the United States. In 2023, a review of hundreds studies on the subject showed that Blacks or Hispanics are more likely to give birth to babies who have low birth weights or preterms. These medical effects can last into adulthood because of air pollution.
Researchers at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health conducted a study in 2025 that showed pollution exposure could cause difficulties for women who are trying to conceive through IVF. The study found that exposure to organic carbon had negative effects on oocyte quality, embryo quality and fertilization.
In a press release, the study’s author Dr. Sarah LaPointe said that air pollution was a concern to those who were trying to conceive and reproduce.
In a study from 2024, researchers at Harvard discovered that “exposure of pregnant women to fine particulate pollution is associated with altered immunity responses that can result in adverse birth outcomes.”
released a news release that stated, “The study revealed that PM2.5 can affect the histone profile of pregnant women. This disrupts the normal balance of genes for cytokine and leads to increased inflammation both in women and in fetuses.” This increase in inflammation is associated with negative pregnancy outcomes.
Asthma hits children hardest
Children are often the ones who suffer from asthma due to air pollution. In a 2024 report that was published in JAMA (a medical journal), it was found that children who were exposed to air pollutants during their first three years had heightened asthma risk in the elementary and middle school grades. A study has found that air pollution can increase the risk of asthma in minority families who live in urban areas.
The EPA has supported research for many years on asthma in children, one of the most common diseases among children. In 2009 , the agency estimated that asthma affects 7.1 million children (about 10% of all US children).
Researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark, published a study in BMJ – a peer-reviewed U.K. medical journal – that found children who are exposed to air pollution have heightened risk of developing asthma and wheezing.
Harold Wimmer, the American Lung Association’s President and CEO, said that rollbacks would increase pollution and cause more people to get sick. More children will also suffer from asthma attacks and more lives will be lost.
Wimmer stated that “EPA’s actions are creating a legacy of disrespect for America’s Health”.
