Image Credit: Getty Images / Elinedesignservices

With the arrival of 2026, Synergist staff are reflecting on the leading occupational and environmental health and safety news stories of 2025. The past year was eventful for OEHS, with major outlets such as NBC, CBS, NPR, and AP covering stories related to Los Angeles wildfire cleanup, NIOSH staffing cuts, an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease in New York City, and more. Top headlines even looked back to ancient history, with Smithsonian Magazine reporting that environmental lead exposures may have caused widespread health effects in the Roman Empire.

The following news stories are among those that received the most interest from Synergist Newswire subscribers in 2025.

Ancient Romans Breathed in Enough Lead to Lower Their IQs, Study Finds. Did That Toxin Contribute to the Empire’s Fall? (Smithsonian Magazine, Jan. 7): “Did lead poisoning contribute to the fall of the Roman Empire? It’s a question historians have long debated, since the Romans sweetened their wine with lead acetate and sipped tap water that flowed through lead pipes. Now, new research suggests the Romans were also breathing in large amounts of lead from silver mining and smelting operations.”

In cleanup from California fires, lithium-ion batteries are a dangerous challenge (NBC, Jan. 27): “As cleanup efforts get underway in the Los Angeles area marred by wildfires, one of the biggest challenges is the large number of lithium-ion batteries that were caught in the flames. […] If damaged or overheated, lithium-ion batteries can ignite or even explode—residual heat sets off a chain reaction that causes the batteries to heat up uncontrollably and spontaneously combust, a process that can happen over days, weeks or months.”

RFK Jr.'s layoffs expected to gut worker safety agency NIOSH, officials say (CBS, March 31): “At least two-thirds of the staff at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, are expected to be laid off as part of a restructuring ordered by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., multiple federal health officials tell CBS News.” Related coverage: Trump cuts demolish agency focused on toxic chemicals and workplace hazards (NPR, May 2); Worker safety agency NIOSH lays off most remaining staff (CBS, May 3).

Federal cuts threaten to close Pennsylvania lab that certifies N95s and other respirators in June (Pennsylvania Capital-Star, April 17): “Most Americans learned what an N95 mask was during the COVID-19 pandemic. But what many still don’t know is that every one of them was certified by a single, government-run lab in Bruceton, Allegheny County.”

Under pressure, HHS reinstates hundreds of occupational health workers (NPR, May 14): “After facing considerable pushback from labor organizations and congressional lawmakers, the Trump administration has reversed course on some of its planned layoffs.”

E.P.A. plans to reconsider a ban on cancer-causing asbestos (gift link; The New York Times, June 16): “The Trump administration plans to reconsider a ban on the last type of asbestos still used in the United States, according to a court filing on Monday. The move, which could halt enforcement of the ban for several years during the reconsideration, is a major blow to a decades-long battle by health advocates to prohibit the carcinogenic mineral in all its forms.” Related coverage: Trump administration pulls back on plans to rewrite Biden-era asbestos ban (AP, July 8).

OSHA’s FY 2026 Budget Justification Offers Insight Into a Much Smaller Agency (Ogletree Deakins, July 2): “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), established under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970, seeks to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers in the United States by setting and enforcing standards, and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance. OSHA’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 congressional budget justification […] suggests significant headcount reductions over the next two years, as well as a significant reduction in inspection activity.”

NYC Legionnaires’ outbreak linked to two city-run buildings, including Harlem Hospital (AP, Aug. 29): “A New York City hospital and another city-run building were sources for a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Harlem that killed seven people and sickened dozens of others, health officials announced Friday. The New York City Health Department said bacteria from cooling towers atop Harlem Hospital and a nearby construction site where the city’s public health lab is located matched samples from some of the ill patients.”

Workplace chemical protection program requirements: When OSHA didn’t act, the EPA did (Ogletree Deakins, Nov. 5): “The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Workplace Chemical Protection Program (WCPP) under Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has fundamentally changed the compliance landscape for occupational exposures to certain chemicals.”

House representative looks to prevent OSHA's federal heat & safety rule (Woodworking Network, Nov. 26): “Rep. Mark Messmer (R-IN) has introduced the Heat Workforce Standards Act of 2025. This legislation seeks to prevent the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from implementing a proposed federal heat-safety rule for indoor and outdoor workplaces.”

Editor's note: HHS reversed the NIOSH staffing cuts in mid-January 2025.

To keep up with the latest reporting on topics related to industrial hygiene and occupational and environmental health and safety, subscribe to The Synergist Newswire.