When the Environmental Protection Agency was formed in 1970, its mission was to protect the environment and human health. Since then, scientists, health experts and advocates have worked to implement regulations aimed at protecting and cleaning the air we breathe and the water we drink. Many of these regulations, which were aimed at cleaning up the air, also helped reduce carbon emissions, which can contribute to climate change – so it was a win for our bodies and the planet.
But all this effort, experts say, might have been for naught, as this week the EPA – the department tasked with monitoring the nation’s pollutants – announced the rollback of a wide swath of environmental regulations, many of which could worsen air quality. And experts say that could have implications for health.
More than 30 rules – including ones on emission standards for industrial air pollutants, passenger vehicles and coal-fired power plants – have been slashed.
The EPA also said on Wednesday it would formally reconsider a landmark 2009 finding by the agency that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and should be regulated.
“We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a video statement.
“The reasoning behind the deregulation, according to Zeldin, is about economics, arguing in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that, “These actions will roll back trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and hidden taxes.”
Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images
Scientists, advocates and experts who have spent decades compiling the research needed to propel the regulations don’t agree with Zeldin’s assessment. Without the regulations, experts say, the U.S. could experience levels of air pollution seen in countries such as India, China or Saudi Arabia, exacerbating health issues for Americans.
“EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin today announced plans for the greatest increase in pollution in decades,” said Amanda Leland, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental advocacy group. “The result will be more toxic chemicals, more cancers, more asthma attacks, and more dangers for pregnant women and their children. Rather than helping our economy, it will create chaos.”
All of Zeldin’s efforts to roll back such a wide variety of regulations will be challenged in court and could take years to litigate. “This is a cluster bomb of moves to demolish a broad swath of environmental regulations. We’ll see if it explodes in EPA’s face when the inevitable barrage of lawsuits hits the courts,” says environmental law expert Michael Gerrard.
Here are three ways a possible rise in air pollutants stemming from the rollback of environmental regulations could affect Americans’ health.
Memory loss in Alzheimer’s, brain disease
Air pollution effects go far beyond the lungs and can create memory loss in the brain, and contribute to other diseases, scientists at Scripps Research found in research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month.
Scientists discovered that pollutants found in environmental toxins, including automobile pollution and wildfire smoke, can result in elevated nitric oxide levels in the brain. These elevated levels can create a chemical change in the brain and accelerate brain aging and Alzheimer’s.
“We’ve revealed the molecular details of how pollutants can contribute to memory loss and neurodegenerative disease,” senior author and professor Stuart Lipton, a clinical neurologist, said in a statement.
Miscarriages, stillborns and maternal health
Numerous studies have shown how air pollution can affect maternal health and lead to miscarriages, stillborns and low birth weight. Further evidence shows that racial minority groups exposed to pollutants suffer from poor maternal health groups more than others in the United States. A 2023 review of hundreds of studies on the topic showed that Blacks and Hispanics were more likely to have babies with low birth weight and preterm births, with medical consequences that would extend through adulthood due to exposure to air pollution.
Another 2025 study by researchers at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health showed exposure to pollution might cause difficulty for those trying to get pregnant through IVF. Exposure to organic carbon showed negative impacts with oocyte survival, fertilization and embryo quality, the study said.
“Air pollution is certainly an exposure of concern for those who are seeking to reproduce and conceive,” said study author Dr. Sarah LaPointe in a statement.
Researchers at Harvard found in a 2024 study that pregnant women’s “exposure to fine particulate air pollution was associated with altered immune responses that can lead to adverse birth outcomes.”
“The study found that PM2.5 exposure can influence the histone profiles of pregnant women, disrupting the normal balance of cytokine genes and leading to increased inflammation in both women and fetuses,” a news release said. “In pregnant women, this increase in inflammation can correspond with adverse pregnancy outcomes.”
Asthma hits children hardest
Air pollutants have long been linked to asthma, with children often suffering from the most adverse conditions. A 2024 study published in JAMA, a medical journal, found children exposed to air pollution during the first three years of life were more likely to get asthma in their elementary and middle school years. The risk of developing asthma can climb significantly for minority families living in urban communities because of air pollutants, the study found.
The EPA has long supported research on children’s health regarding asthma, which is among the most prevalent diseases in children worldwide. The agency found in 2009 that asthma affected 7.1 million (about 10%) of children in the United States.
Another 2020 study published by researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark and published in the BMJ, a U.K. peer-reviewed medical journal, found children exposed to air pollutants are much more likely to develop asthma and persistent wheezing than those with limited exposure.
American Lung Association President and CEO Harold Wimmer said rollbacks will increase pollution, more people will get sick, more children will have asthma attacks, and lives will be lost.
“Through this suite of actions, EPA is certainly creating a historic legacy: one of disregard for America’s health,” Wimmer said.
