The official national strategy document spans 36 pages, adorned with the presidential seal and incorporates ten agencies from the federal government.
This document isn’t about tariffs or border security; it is President Trump’s comprehensive plan to eliminate paper straws and reinstate plastic ones.
“My Administration is dedicated,” the document states, to “liberating our citizens from the pulpy, soggy mess that plagues their experience whenever they use a paper straw.”
Critics argue it’s a jab in the culture wars and yet another instance of erratic policies shaped by Mr. Trump’s preferences, whether concerning paper straws, wind turbines, or low-flow shower heads.
However, there’s an unexpected twist: it complicates a larger public health issue in the administration’s quest to loosen regulations.
The document gives an extensive eight pages to the health and environmental risks associated with paper straws, particularly emphasizing the dangers posed by PFAS—synthetic chemicals that provide water resistance to products but are linked to various severe health issues and found in drinking water across the nation.
Last year, the Biden administration enforced strict new federal standards on PFAS, referred to as “forever chemicals” due to their environmental persistence. However, industry and utility groups challenged these standards, claiming they are “unattainable” and “onerous,” and have urged the Trump administration to revoke them.
It’s uncertain if Lee Zeldin, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, will comply. The administration faces a deadline on May 12 to decide whether to uphold the standards in court.
“Will Zeldin roll back PFAS drinking water standards with this anti-PFAS message coming from the White House?” questioned Matthew Tejada, head of environmental health policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “If the White House is wary of PFAS in straws, how can Zeldin ignore the PFAS issue in drinking water?”
Under Mr. Zeldin’s guidance, the agency is pursuing deregulation, aiming to repeal various environmental controls that restrict toxic pollution and appointing lobbyists and lawyers from industries opposing such regulations into leadership roles.
During a press briefing on Monday, Mr. Zeldin stated that the scientific consensus on PFAS “was not fully established.”
“We’ve clarified some questions regarding PFAS, but ongoing research is crucial,” Mr. Zeldin stated, adding that regulations should rely on “more facts and fewer assumptions.”
However, Mr. Trump’s anti-paper-straw strategy explicitly addresses these chemicals.
“Scientists and regulators have raised significant concerns about PFAS for decades,” the White House document asserts. “PFAS is detrimental to human health and is linked to reproductive issues, development delays in children, cancer, hormonal imbalances, obesity, and other severe health conditions.”
This week, the White House reiterated these warnings. “Paper straws contain harmful PFAS chemicals—‘forever chemicals’ associated with serious long-term health issues—that contaminate the water supply,” the administration expressed in an Earth Day statement on Monday.
Another unpredictable element is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services. While addressing a forum on the health and environmental impacts of plastics, Mr. Kennedy included PFAS among the chemicals he aims to eliminate from the food supply. “We’re committed to removing entire categories of chemicals from our food that pose legitimate concerns for human health,” he declared.
Both the White House and the E.P.A. insisted there is no divergence in their approaches toward PFAS.
“President Trump and Administrator Zeldin are collaborating closely to eradicate harmful toxins from the environment,” stated Taylor Rogers, a spokeswoman for the White House. “The Trump administration, along with Administrator Zeldin, acknowledges that PFAS poses hazards to human health, and further investigation into the risks of PFAS is vital to ensuring a healthier America.”
Molly Vaseliou, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A., refrained from commenting specifically on the potential rollback of PFAS drinking water standards but highlighted Mr. Zeldin’s extensive experience with PFAS matters.
Prior to joining the Trump administration, Mr. Zeldin served four terms as a congressman from Long Island, which has faced PFAS contamination issues. In 2020, he was one of 23 House Republicans to vote in favor of the PFAS Action Act, a comprehensive bill supported by Democrats that required the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate these chemicals in drinking water and hold polluters accountable for cleanup.
“He has been, and continues to be, a vigorous advocate for safeguarding Long Islanders and all Americans from polluted drinking water,” noted Ms. Vaseliou.
While Mr. Zeldin is right that further research is essential to clarifying the health hazards of PFAS exposure, the evidence regarding the damage caused by these chemicals is accumulating, particularly for the most researched types of PFAS. The White House’s strategy regarding straws acknowledges this evidence, substantiated by a seven-page bibliography.
“The E.P.A. carried out an evaluation of current peer-reviewed scientific findings and discovered that PFAS exposure is associated with significant health risks,” the document states.
The administration also points out, according to the White House: reduced fertility, high blood pressure in pregnant women, low birth weight, early puberty, behavioral shifts in children, weakened immune systems, and elevated cholesterol levels.
Plastic also contains toxic chemicals. Microplastics are pervasive, polluting ecosystems and potentially endangering human health. Critics highlight that promoting plastic bolsters the fossil fuel industry, the primary source of plastic materials.
Nonetheless, Linda Birnbaum, a toxicologist and former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, who has been warning about PFAS for years, agrees with parts of the White House document. “Their claims regarding these adverse effects are well-founded,” she commented.
However, if the Trump administration genuinely apprehended the health implications of PFAS, they should also be concerned about these chemicals’ widespread presence—in food packaging and tap water, for instance. “Instead, they’re focusing all this energy on demonizing straws,” she remarked.
The controversy surrounding plastic straws traces back to the mid-2010s, when they became notorious for their contribution to the growing plastic waste crisis. Numerous cities and retailers prohibited plastic straws, and several states enacted restrictions. (Disability rights advocates have raised concerns about these bans because some individuals rely on straws for safe drinking.)
Various alternatives to plastic emerged, including stainless steel and glass straws, along with lids featuring spouts. However, paper straws quickly became the primary substitute, only to be criticized for their propensity to disintegrate into a mushy pulp.
Simultaneously, researchers began detecting PFAS in various paper and plant-based straws, which raised concerns about exposing individuals to harmful chemicals and adding yet another pollutant to the water system.
The president has characterized the Biden administration’s policies as a “paper straws mandate,” even though these plans did not explicitly require transitioning solely to paper straws.
His opposition to paper straws has historical roots; his 2020 campaign sold packs of ten branded plastic straws for $15 with the slogan, “Liberal Paper Straws Don’t Work.”
In his sweeping strategy, Mr. Trump instructs federal agencies to “be innovative and utilize every available policy tool to ban paper straws nationwide.” Furthermore, “taxpayer funds should never be squandered; thus, no federal contracts or grants should back paper straws or support any organizations banning plastic straws.”
Christine Figgener, a marine conservation biologist known for her viral video showing a sea turtle with a plastic straw lodged in its nostril, argued that the debate between paper and plastic neglects the simplest solution: avoiding straws altogether.
Straws symbolize “everything unnecessary that we consume in a society overly reliant on convenience,” she remarked. “Why is America so fixated on straws? Most people don’t actually require them.”
Lisa Friedman contributed reporting.