"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 scientists and health advocates say regardless of whether it has been cancelled or is locked in a lengthy delay — Americans are paying the price with their health. 

The EPA set a threshold for nitrates in drinking water more than 30 years ago at a level designed to avoid harming babies after research showed that ingesting nitrates could trigger dangerously low oxygen in babies’ blood, what’s known as “blue baby syndrome.” The EPA announced it would re-assess nitrates — and nitrites — in 2017 to look at other potential health impacts, including cancer,  but the work was suspended in 2019 by the first Trump administration. 

The Biden administration re-started the work, and the EPA accepted public comments on the planned assessment in 2023 but the agency hasn’t provided an update since. Earlier this year, the Trump administration eliminated the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, which housed the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and was responsible for such health assessments."

Brian Bienkowski reports forr The New Lede August 4, 2026. [2]