Darya Minovi was engaged in mapping pollution from medical sterilization plants across the nation when she encountered a common concern among communities: How much were ethylene oxide emissions, a powerful carcinogen, affecting their cancer risk? To address these worries, she turned to data gathered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The maps she produced, released in 2023 by the Union of Concerned Scientists, where Minovi serves as a researcher, revealed that over 14 million individuals reside within a 5-mile radius of facilities emitting ethylene oxide. Importantly, the maps identified 23 sterilization plants that the EPA had recognized as emitting the chemical at levels contributing to increased cancer risk. This effort raised public awareness and was instrumental in advocating for stricter emission regulations.
However, the cancer risk data that underpinned Minovi’s work has been quietly removed from public access. After more than twenty years of public availability, the Environmental Protection Agency has excluded cancer risk estimates from its latest air pollution data update. While raw pollution data is still being released, information on the cancer risk from these emissions is no longer provided. Additionally, the agency has not updated its searchable U.S. map detailing cancer risks associated with air pollution.
Risk assessments are essential tools for communities to comprehend the impact of pollution locally. They are also vital for journalists and nonprofits in informing the public and holding industries accountable. Without this information, the complex task of interpreting pollution data falls to the public, requiring specialized knowledge and familiarity with EPA protocols, as Minovi noted, thus limiting community access to crucial public health information.
“Ultimately, those living in areas with concentrated pollution sources suffer the most,” she remarked. “They find themselves entangled in bureaucratic and political conflicts, without the protection they need.”
The Trump administration has significantly restricted access to environmental data. Nearly 2,000 webpages and datasets on science, climate, and environmental issues have been altered or removed. Last year, the EPA discontinued a tool that enabled the public to search its inventory of facilities handling large amounts of hazardous substances by ZIP code. The agency also dismantled the EJScreen tool, which was used to track environmental hazards across the U.S., highlighting industrial pollution hotspots alongside demographic data. Moreover, certain EPA web pages related to pollutants, such as ethylene oxide, have been revised to eliminate cancer risk information and instead focus on their industrial utility.
Inyang Uwak, research and policy director for Air Alliance Houston, a nonprofit in Texas, stated that these cuts favor industries over public health.Â
“It’s unfortunate because this data is highly useful to organizations like ours,” she said, emphasizing that scientists and policymakers also require this data to make informed decisions. “It’s a disservice to public health overall.”
Since 2002, the EPA has periodically published cancer risk data as part of its Air Toxics Screening Assessment program, which details the concentration of various toxic pollutants down to the census block level. The agency started releasing this data annually in 2022, though it often lags by several years due to the time taken to compile the information. As industrial facilities are constructed, closed, or expanded, local pollution levels can shift dramatically. These annual updates provided communities with the most recent information available concerning these changes.Â
Had the updates been on schedule this year, the agency would have released data on cancer risks from 2022 emissions. Instead, the latest update, delayed by a year, reflects 2021 emissions data.Â
This information was only posted on a public webpage this summer after Tai Lung, a senior advisor for federal data policy at the Federation for American Scientists, contacted the agency. Lung, who had been with the EPA for over a decade leading EJScreen, was among the 170 employees suspended by the Trump administration.
Carolyn Holran, an EPA spokesperson, told Grist that the agency “will continue to post annual nationwide air toxics emissions and concentration data when available,” but did not comment on the missing cancer risk data. She also did not address why the cancer data was not released this year or if the agency is still conducting these calculations internally.
“EPA is committed to fulfilling our core mission of protecting human health and the environment and ensuring clean air for all Americans, while following gold standard science,” she stated.
Lung expressed concern that the agency’s decision would make it more challenging for the public to understand how pollution affects their health. “So now we’re just sharing this raw data, which really means nothing to anybody,” he said.Â
The United States features one of the highest cancer incidence rates globally. Nearly 40 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point, with over 2 million new cases annually. Living near industrial sources of pollutants like benzene, formaldehyde, and ethylene oxide can elevate cancer risks. Areas such as Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” neighborhoods near the Houston Ship Channel, and the southeast side of Chicago have become cancer hotspots.
Cancer risk assessments are central to the EPA’s regulatory functions. The agency has long set “acceptable thresholds” for industrial pollution exposure, typically allowing one additional cancer case per 10,000 people over their lifetime. Ideally, the agency aims for exposure to be significantly lower, at one in a million. When a new facility seeks a permit, or when the agency considers new regulations, it evaluates whether the change will exceed this cancer risk threshold.
Denice Ross, director of the Data Policy Institute at the Federation of American Scientists, identified two main patterns in the administration’s regulatory changes. Information conflicting with the administration’s priorities or casting its policies unfavorably has been deliberately removed, especially projects focused on diversity, social justice, gender, and climate issues, she observed.Â
Jeff Kowalsky / AFP via Getty Images
The second trend involves data loss due to extensive funding and staffing cuts in scientific research at agencies and institutions. Tasks that were once routine now require more red tape and political approval, she added.Â
“The services that agencies provide have historically been invisible infrastructure,” Ross stated. “There are so many things we take for granted about federal data in our lives, and people are no longer taking that for granted.”
Some of these cuts are contrary to President Donald Trump’s policies. In 2019, he signed the OPEN Government Data Act, mandating federal data be more accessible and useful to the public. Federal law also requires agencies to give adequate notice when changing or ending significant information sources like the Air Toxics Assessment. However, Ross noted, many changes are happening quietly, making them difficult to track unless one knows where to look.
Recently, some organizations have started to preserve lost EPA tools, like EJScreen, by recreating them or releasing unofficial versions. However, these still depend on federal data updates and lack the authority of official government assessments.
Elizabeth Bechard, a public health manager at Moms Clean Air Force, highlighted that many communities lack the expertise to interpret raw EPA data. Her organization often uses EPA data to support families combating polluting industries. She noted that discontinuing cancer risk assessments would impede community involvement.
“The public deserves access to information about these risks to be empowered to take action,” she stated. “This isn’t just about numbers; it’s about protecting people.”
