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RFK Jr, EPA chief ‘declare war’ on microplastics amid growing evidence of health risks
Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin are declaring a war on microplastics.
These tiny bits of plastic, which are less than 5 mm in size, can persist in our environment for hundreds or thousands of years. They may also build up in our bodies, our hearts and our brains, causing untold damage.
For the first time, the EPA is adding microplastics and pharmaceuticals to its Contaminant Candidate List for drinking water, which will help to prioritize funding and pave the way for potential future regulation involving Congress.
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HHS is also launching the Systematic Targeting of Microplastics — or STOMP — to study how microplastics accumulate in the body.
Kennedy spoke with Fox News in an exclusive interview accompanying the EPA/HHS announcement.
“We do not have the science that distinguishes between the impacts of these different types of plastics, and maybe if we identify those impacts, the damaging ones can be immediately eliminated, because you can replace them with something else,” he said.
“Our job — and we are really at the limit of our power right now — is to try to answer those questions before we take another action.”
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Kennedy pointed to emerging science suggesting microplastics’ direct impacts on public health.
“Some of them may be benign – others are very, very harmful,” he warned. “The science shows if they cause inflammation, they cause oxidative stress.”
“As a body, they are endocrine disruptors, so they interfere with fertility,” he added.
As emerging research suggests a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and neurodegenerative disease when microplastics are present at the cellular level, “the time to act is now,” according to Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a professor of pediatrics and population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
During a panel accompanying the announcement, Trasande compared the issue to efforts to reduce lead exposure in the 1970s, when the government took action as soon as the danger was identified, even before all research was complete.
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Kennedy, who has a long history of fighting chemicals in the environment, blames big businesses for causing the problem and wants them to clean it up. “That’s a lesson we are all supposed to have learned at kindergarten – that you clean up after yourself, you don’t force the public to do it.”
The same approach applies to pharmaceuticals that make their way into the environment, he noted.
“Particularly for our children, it’s very alarming. They are swimming around now in a toxic soup. It’s coming from everywhere,” Kennedy warned. “It’s coming from their food. It’s coming from agriculture. It’s coming from the air and water, and it’s coming from pharmaceutical drugs.
“Lee has directed his agency under President Trump to do this study so we can start regulating the discharge of these chemicals,” he went on. “A lot of them you can remove through carbon technology and other technologies.”
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Administrator Zeldin said he believes the fight against microplastics is a bipartisan issue. He is calling for more education and transparency when it comes to microplastics and public health, cautioning against the federal government proposing a one-size-fits-all solution.
“You want to be able to get the answers, you want to see the gold-standard science,” he said. “You demand radical transparency. You’re looking through the website, and it’s ignoring what you came to that web page to look for. I feel like there’s a communication gap – and when there’s a communication gap, there’s a trust gap.”
Zeldin and Kennedy have been working closely under President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda and say they enjoy working together.
“There’s no American in this country who can’t get heard somehow by Secretary Kennedy, and it’s just an honor to serve alongside him,” Zeldin said.
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Kennedy added, “I like everybody in that Cabinet, but Lee and I work with particular closeness, and I’ve really enjoyed the relationship.”
It is clear they would like this relationship to continue, even if their roles change. “You never know what’s going to happen,” Kennedy said.
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Trump greeted at UFC 327 in first sporting event appearance since start of Iran war
President Donald Trump was greeted by a packed crowd at UFC 327 in Miami Saturday night during the president’s first appearance at a sporting event since the start of the Iran war. Fans in attendance erupted into raucous applause as Trump walked into the venue.
Trump made his way out with UFC CEO and president Dana White and went around to the announcers and had an exchange with Joe Rogan, who was sitting at the announcers’ table.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was standing nearby the seats right before Trump walked out, then leaned in to Trump and started whispering very closely to the president, cupping his hands over his mouth and they each exchanged a few words. Trump then turned around, pumping his fist to those sitting behind him, smiling and waving, then pointed a few times to the crowd.
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Trump has been a frequent fixture at UFC and other combat sports events during his presidency, during his 2024 campaign and even dating back to his first term.
In 2025, Trump attended UFC 316 and Miami fight night. In 2024, he attended UFC 302 in June and UFC 309 in November.
In 2019, he attended UFC 244.
Before Saturday, the last major sporting event Trump attended was the College Football Playoff national championship game between Indiana and Miami at Hard Rock Stadium Jan. 19.
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Trump was notably absent from this year’s Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in Italy and didn’t attend any other events after the Iran war broke out.
But after Tuesday’s ceasefire agreement, Trump has returned to sport. Trump addressed the ongoing situation with Iran at the White House before departing for Joint Base Andrews to travel to Miami for the UFC event.
“We’re in very deep negotiations with Iran. We win regardless. We’ve defeated them militarily,” Trump told reporters. “Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me. And the reason is because we’ve won, whether you listen to the fake news or not.”
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Heather Graham says classmates dismissed her as ‘nerdy’ before Hollywood breakthrough proved them wrong
Before Hollywood came calling, Heather Graham said, she was dismissed as a “nerdy” teenager.
The actress recalled being underestimated in high school before landing the popular cheerleader role in “License to Drive,” a turning point she described as a “huge moment” that launched her independence and her career.
“I was nerdy. … You know, I was smart, and I was just, like, nobody thought I was that pretty,” Graham recalled during an episode of “Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson.”
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“So, I got this job as, like, the popular, pretty cheerleader, and I had very bad style and bad hair and makeup. Like, I did not know how to, like, do that. And then people were like, ‘Oh?’
“[The movie] came out right as I was graduating,” Graham added. “And I think people were like, ‘Well, maybe we should have paid attention to her.'”
Graham revealed landing the iconic role as Mercedes Lane in “License to Drive” was a “huge moment” for her at 17.
“It was huge for me. Like, that was a huge moment,” she explained. “I got to make money. I was independent. I had a bank account, you know, and I could live on my own.”
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Graham began her career with small roles in commercials and TV before landing teen films such as “Drugstore Cowboy” and “Swingers.”
She got her breakthrough with “Boogie Nights,” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Bowfinger.”
Graham landed a role in the blockbuster film “The Hangover” in 2009. She has since continued acting in films and TV while also expanding into writing and directing projects.
Her latest film, “They Will Kill You,” hit theaters March 27.
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The 56-year-old actress shared some of her beauty secrets in a recent interview with Us Weekly.
Graham claimed she’s “never had an actual operation where they’re cutting my face open.” But she said she has tried a series of other methods, including “microneedling, Botox … and a bunch of lasery things.”
“Some of those laser treatments are torture,” she said. “Like, an hour and a half of your face getting blasted.”
The movie star’s goal is to stay away from invasive plastic surgery because she doesn’t “want to look freaky,” and her “goal is to look natural.”
“I feel like some people get facelifts and they just kind of end up looking like … I mean, there are people that get it, and it’s good. But I just don’t want to be one of those people that got it and look freaky,” she said. “But I don’t know if [when] I got older, I wouldn’t completely rule out. Who knows, in the future.”
Graham also tries to maintain a balanced diet and get 10 to 11 hours of sleep. She said she uses yoga as a way to stay in shape and manage stress, calling it “so cathartic.”
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Seven-foot statue unveiled honoring Magawa, award-winning rat who found more than 100 landmines in Cambodia
A landmine-sniffing rat who won a gold medal for “life-saving devotion to duty” in Cambodia has been honored with a massive stone statue.
Magawa, a rat who gained fame in the country for sniffing out more than 100 mines (more than 1.5 million square feet) in his five-year career — more than any other rat in the country — retired in 2021 and died at age 8 in 2022.
The African giant pouched rat was trained by the Belgian charity APOPO to use his keen sense of smell to sniff out landmines and other explosives.
In Cambodia, more than 1 million people live and work in areas dotted with landmines, according to BBC News.
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In 2020, Magawa received the PDSA Dickin medal for gallantry, which recognizes heroism in animals.
He was the first rat in the organization’s history going back to 1943 to win the award.
Magawa was able to walk over areas with land mines safely because of his light weight and would alert his handlers to a mine by scratching the surface, according to Smithsonian magazine. He would then receive a treat.
“During his career, Magawa found over 100 landmines and other explosives, making him APOPO’s most successful HeroRAT to date,” the organization said in 2022, while announcing his death. “His contribution allows communities in Cambodia to live, work and play without fear of losing life or limb.”
Cambodia has the highest rate of landmine amputees per capita of any country.
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APOPO added, “Every discovery he made reduced the risk of injury or death for the people of Cambodia.”
The statue was unveiled in Siem Reap, Cambodia, April 3, just in time for International Day for Mine Awareness April 4.
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