Trump's EPA Helped Erase Records of Almost 270,000 Pounds of Carcinogenic Pollution

<p>The Environmental Protection&nbsp;Agency under the Trump administration invited companies to retroactively amend emissions records of a deadly carcinogenic chemical. This week on Intercepted: Investigative reporter Sharon Lerner explains how 270,000 pounds of the chemical&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/03/18/epa-pollution-cancer-ethylene-oxide/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ethylene oxide</a>&nbsp;vanished from the public record right after the EPA determined that it was more toxic than previously known. Ethylene oxide is a colorless and odorless gas used to produce many consumer goods and used&nbsp;extensively as an agent&nbsp;in the sterilization of medical equipment.</p><p><br></p><p>Despite the EPA’s transition to new leadership under the Biden administration, regulatory capture is a persistent obstacle in the agency’s ability to&nbsp;protect public health and the environment. And as Lerner&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/03/18/epa-pollution-cancer-ethylene-oxide/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reports</a>, a disproportionate number of poor communities and&nbsp;communities of color&nbsp;have yet to be alerted to the fact that elevated levels of cancer-causing ethylene oxide permeate the air they breathe. We also hear from a group of Texas women&nbsp;that believes their breast cancer diagnoses are linked to exposure to the chemical.</p> &#10;&nbsp;<br /><hr><p style='color: grey; font - size: 0.75em; '>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>