FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2026
CONTACT: Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
For Mother’s Day, Safer Not Sicker Campaign Releases New Resources to Help Families Navigate Toxic Chemical Exposures
Leading experts warn EPA rollbacks could increase risks for mothers, babies, and young children
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ahead of Mother’s Day, the Safer Not Sicker campaign today released a new “Friends + Neighbors Guide” and an issue brief on how toxic chemical exposures put mothers, babies, and families across the United States at risk.
Developed with input from leading experts on the health impacts of toxic chemicals, the resources are designed to help mothers, expecting parents, caregivers, and communities better understand the growing health risks posed by everyday exposure to hazardous chemicals.
The release comes amid mounting concern over recent Environmental Protection Agency decisions to weaken or roll back safeguards on some of the nation’s most dangerous toxic substances, including PFAS “forever chemicals,” formaldehyde, mercury, arsenic, and other pollutants linked to serious health harms.
“No parent can be a walking encyclopedia of environmental health threats. There are things we can’t personally control, like the levels of air pollution we’re breathing,” said Dr. Lynn Goldman, a pediatrician and epidemiologist who is a volunteer advisor to Safer Not Sicker and Dean Emerita of the Milken School of Public Health. “We need to depend on the U.S. EPA and other government agencies to make sure the environment — and the products in the environment—are safe for children.”
The new issue brief, Mothers, Babies, and Children: Why Toxic Exposure Is Becoming Harder for Families to Avoid, outlines how toxic chemical exposure can affect mothers and children at every stage of life, including:
- Making it harder to conceive
- Increasing risks during pregnancy
- Affecting fetal development
- Complicating breastfeeding and nursing
- Impacting infant, toddler, and childhood development
The brief also highlights growing scientific evidence linking toxic exposures to developmental delays, reproductive health problems, hormone disruption, learning disabilities, immune system impacts, and chronic disease.
The accompanying Friends + Neighbors Guide provides accessible information families can share within their communities, including a checklist to help assess exposure to common toxic chemicals in air, water, food, and household products.
The Safer Not Sicker campaign is calling on policymakers to strengthen — not weaken — protections against toxic chemical pollution and to prioritize the health of children and future generations. The campaign is led by Environmental Protection Network (EPN), hundreds of former EPA scientists and experts who spent decades protecting Americans’ health.
“Every mother deserves confidence that the water our family drinks, the air our children breathe, and the products in our homes are safe. Instead, many families are facing rising exposure risks as federal safeguards are weakened,” said Michelle Roos, Executive Director, Environmental Protection Network (EPN) “Moms already have enough on their plates. We should not also have to worry about whether toxic chemicals and pollution are putting their children’s health at risk.”
The new resources are available at: safernotsicker.org
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ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NETWORK
The Environmental Protection Network is a nonpartisan organization comprising more than 750 former EPA scientists, toxicologists, chemists, biologists, engineers, and policy analysts — many of whom spent decades as career experts inside the agency. They assessed cancer and developmental risks, studied links between pollution and fertility and chronic disease, investigated contaminated communities, and brought enforcement actions to hold corporate polluters accountable. EPN was founded in 2017 to serve as an independent voice promoting science-based policies that protect Americans’ health.