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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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Hawks’ late-second heave is too late as Knicks hang on for win
The Atlanta Hawks were about a half-second away from tying their game against the New York Knicks and forcing overtime on Monday night.
The Hawks were inbounding the ball underneath the basket on the far side of the court. The ball came to C.J. McCollum, who took two dribbles and threw up a prayer near halfcourt. The ball banked off the backboard and into the basket as the buzzer sounded.
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Fans at the State Farm Arena went wild as it appeared McCollum tied the game. However, officials reviewed the play and it was determined that the veteran guard got the ball out of his hands a little too late.
New York won the game, 108-105.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown explained why he didn’t instruct the team to foul at the end instead of risking a possible game-tying scenario.
“It’s tricky. If he misses it, obviously it’s a long heave. But if you foul him on the rebound or you foul him when he’s turning to heave it now they get three free throws,” he said, via the New York Post. “It’s something we’ve talked about before — it’s still a toss-up situation. … The whole thing was at worst they’ll tie it and we’ll go to overtime. Lesson learned on a couple possessions down the stretch.”
Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who made two free throws to give the team a three-point lead with a second left to play, led the team with 30 points and 13 assists. Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
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It was Atlanta’s first home loss since early February, ending the team’s 13-game home winning streak.
Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 36 points in the loss. Jalen Johnson added 21 points and 11 rebounds, notching his 48th double-double of the season.
New York and Atlanta could potentially meet in the postseason as they’re jockeying for seeding ahead of the playoffs. The Knicks are 51-28 and currently third in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks fell to 45-34 and are currently fifth in the East.
Atlanta is only 1.5 games up on the Toronto Raptors for their spot.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Artemis II astronaut tells Trump what communication blackout was like: ‘I said a little prayer’
The Artemis II literally went where no man, or woman, has gone before in an historic trek around the dark side of the moon Monday, and the crew did it with pilot Victor Glover making quick request for divine assistance.
“I’d like to ask, what was your feeling when you had no communication?” President Donald Trump asked in a call arranged by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman from Houston mission control to “Integrity,” the crew’s chosen name for the Orion capsule. “Zero communication all of a sudden: It was cut off by obviously your very special location; what was your feeling when you had no communication? A little bit different perhaps.”
“Yes, Mr. President, it was,” Glover replied. “I said a little prayer, but then I had to keep rolling.”
The prayer was quick, because when things went dark, the crew had to get to work during the 45-minute communications outage.
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“I was actually recording scientific observations of the far side of the moon,” Glover continued. “You know, that is actually the time when we were the farthest and the closest to the moon.
“And so we were really able to make some of our most detailed observations of the far side of the moon up close. And so we were busy up here working really hard. And I must say it was actually quite nice.”
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Trump drilled down on the observations.
“Did you see a difference, a big difference between the far side of the moon and the near side of the moon?” Trump asked. “Was there a difference in feel or difference in look, what did you see?”
The lack of light “certainly did” change the perspective, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said, noting the far side looked strikingly different from the near side, with far fewer of the dark plains visible from Earth.
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“The gravitational pull of the Earth has had a profound effect on the near side of the moon, changing all those dark mares, those dark patches of the moon you see from Earth. It’s very different on the far side.
“While you see some small patches of those mare and deep craters, it’s very much absent on that side. So that’s really neat.”
Hansen also took a moment to thank Trump on behalf of Canada, a country that has had at-times testy dealings with Trump.
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“And while I have the microphone, sir, I just want to thank you on behalf of Canada: The space leadership you spoke of from America truly is extraordinary,” Hansen said. “I’ve said this many times before, a nation that leads like that and creates and sets big goals for humanity, that brings other countries along with it, is truly incredible.
“And I know that’s a very intentional, not a necessary decision, intentional decision to lead by example and to allow other countries like Canada to share our gifts and help you achieve these mutually beneficial goals, like establishing a presence on the moon and eventually going to Mars.
“And Canadians are so proud to be a part of this program.”
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Trump referenced Canadian hockey great Wayne Gretzky and said the country is proud of Hansen’s bravery.
“They are so proud of you, and you have a lot of courage,” Trump said. “I’m not sure if they’d want to do that. I’m not even sure if The Great One would want to do that, to be honest with you. But you have a lot of courage doing what you’re doing, a lot of bravery and a lot of of genius. But they’re very, very proud of you.”
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Mission specialist Christina Koch spoke about regaining sight of Earth after the blackout and the importance of U.S. leadership in deep-space exploration.
“One of the biggest highlights was coming back from the far side of the moon and having the first glimpses of planet Earth again, after being out of communication for about 45 minutes,” said Koch, the first woman to the moon, who already holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days) and was part of the first all-female spacewalk.
“It really just reminds you what a special place we have and how important it is for our nation to work, to lead and not follow in exploring deep space.”
Commander Reid Wiseman told Trump the crew had witnessed views that were first sights for humanity, including a solar corona during an eclipse and planets lining up beyond the moon.
“We saw sights hat no human has ever seen before, not even in Apollo, and that was amazing for us,” Wiseman said. “And then the surprise of the day, we just came out of an eclipse where the sun, moon — the entire dark moon about that big right out the window that we were watching — we could see the corona of the sun, and then we could see the planet train line up, and Mars.
“And all of us commented how excited we are to watch this nation, and this planet become a two-planet species.”
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White House unleashes on Stacey Abrams in latest clash over Trump’s election order
The White House tore into Democrat activist and failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Monday after she argued President Donald Trump‘s executive order seeking to rein in mail-in voting was “illegal.”
“Has Stacey Abrams conceded the multiple elections she lost yet or is she still pretending to be Governor?” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. “Election integrity has always been a top priority for President Trump, and the American people sent him back to the White House because they overwhelmingly supported his commonsense election integrity agenda.”
The comment was in response to Abrams, who said during an appearance on MS NOW over the weekend that Trump’s order would disenfranchise voters, resurfacing long-held tensions with the president amid his latest push to enhance voter security ahead of the midterms. Abrams previously ran for Georgia governor twice and refused to formally concede her 2018 election.
“It is patently illegal, and it is entirely in the playbook of voter suppression that Republicans, including Donald Trump, have been using for the last decade or so,” Abrams said.
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Trump’s order, called “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” directs the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration, in coordination with state leaders, to create a list of citizens, and then directed the U.S. Postal Service to only deliver mail-in ballots to people on the list.
“The president will do everything in his power to defend the safety and security of American elections and to ensure that only American citizens are voting in them – that’s only controversial for Democrats like Stacey,” Jackson added.
Abrams founded Fair Fight Action after her 2018 loss to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, saying Georgia’s election system suppressed voters. The group was later ordered to reimburse the state more than $200,000 in legal costs after an unsuccessful lawsuit.
Separately, Abrams-linked advocacy groups have faced campaign-finance and nonprofit-compliance scrutiny, including a Georgia Ethics Commission case involving the New Georgia Project and a 2025 IRS complaint targeting Fair Fight Action.
Abrams has since criticized Republican-led voting initiatives at the federal and state level as relics of the Jim Crow era and designed to disenfranchise racial minorities.
“The Constitution gives to the states the authority to determine how elections are held,” Abrams said. “What the Republican regime is upset about is that democracy has been working.”
Trump criticized Abrams as far back as 2018 over her stance on voting, accusing her of wanting “illegal aliens to vote.” Abrams “opposed requiring proof of American citizenship at the ballot box,” Trump said at the time.
Trump has long argued that noncitizen voting, which is illegal, is a widespread problem in U.S. elections. In addition to his executive order, Trump has urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act before the 2026 elections to impose a physical identification requirement on people registering to vote, though it lacks the needed support from Democratic senators to advance in the upper chamber.
While the White House has framed Trump’s executive order as an effort to bolster election integrity, Abrams and other critics argued it intruded on state authority and would unfairly suppress votes.
“The biggest risk for Americans right now is that we see these as piecemeal, and we don’t recognize it’s part of a pattern,” Abrams said. “This is step 10 in an authoritarian playbook. You end democracy.”
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Abrams also alleged that the executive order would serve to create a master list of voters, effectively usurping state control over voter registration lists and federalizing elections.
“The creation of a database … should terrify all of us,” Abrams said. “That is an attempt to do national surveillance.”
In addition to Abrams’ criticisms, roughly two dozen states and voting rights groups filed lawsuits seeking to block the executive order, arguing Trump’s directives violated the Constitution by encroaching on states’ authority to administer elections.
Fox News Digital reached out to an Abrams representative for comment.
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