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Since President Trump took office in January, his administrations Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been on a deregulation spree. So far, the agencys leaders have expressed interest in rolling back regulations around forever chemicals, or PFAs; reversing a cornerstone finding that greenhouse gases are dangerous for public health; and weakening enforcement of coal ash regulations. This week, new court documents indicate the EPA has set its sights on walking back protections from another toxin: asbestos. Based on court documents released on Monday, the EPA intends to reconsider a ruling, passed by the Biden administration in 2024, that banned chrysotile asbestos, the last form of asbestos used legally in the U.S. Per a release issued at the time of the ruling, 50 other countries had already banned chrysotile asbestos, which is most commonly used in the industrial process of making chlorine and on components in the automotive industry. The action marks a major milestone for chemical safety after more than three decades of inadequate protections and serious delays during the previous administration to implement the 2016 amendments, the Biden administration wrote. Exposure to asbestos is known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, and laryngeal cancer, and it is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Now, in response to a petition from the Texas Chemistry Council, its possible that chrysotile asbestos will once again be a permissible manufacturing material. According to the new court documents, EPA leadership has reviewed the Asbestos Rule and now intends to reconsider the Rule through notice-and-comment rulemaking, noting that this process, including any regulatory changes, is expected to take approximately 30 months. This wont be the first time that a Trump administration has tried to bring back asbestos. In 2018, his first administrations EPA enacted a SNUR (or Significant New Use Rule) allowing the manufacture of new asbestos-containing products to be petitioned and approved by the federal government on a case-by-case basis. Strangely enough, Trump himself also wrote in his 1977 book Art of the Comeback that he believed asbestos bans were a conspiracy led by the mob, because it was often mob-related companies that would do the asbestos removal. The EPA did not immediately respond to Fast Companys request for comment on the reasoning behind its reconsideration.
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E-Commerce
Cereal lovers beware: You may not like what you are about to read. General Mills, the maker of popular breakfast cereal, Cheerios, has sadly decided to discontinue three of its flavors: Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Oat Crunch, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios Minis. Didn’t know there was more than one kind of Cheerios? Here are all the flavors, from Fruity Cheerios, and Pumpkin Spice Cheeriosto Very Berry. So, while this may be bad news for cereal junkies everywhere, there is a silver lining here. It turns out the reason they are taking them off the shelf is to make way for some new offerings including, the Cheerios Protein line. “As weve introduced new innovations this yearincluding Cheerios Protein, available in Cinnamon, Strawberry and Cookies and Creme, Cheerios Oat Crunch Chocolate, and the return of fan-favorite Frosted Lemon Cheerios for a limited time this summerwe have discontinued a few products from our portfolio,” General Mills told Fast Company in an emailed statement. If you are wondering if there is any hope of resurrecting one of those three discontinued flavors, fear not. “Much like Frosted Lemon Cheerios, which returned by popular demand, we continue to listen to our fans as we evolve our offerings,” General Mills added. Cheerios isn’t the only company jumping on the high protein bandwagon, also known as protein-maxxing. They join a number of other food and beverage brands, including Starbucks, who recently announced the addition of a new Protein Cold Foam that adds a whopping 15 grams of protein to each coffee drink.
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E-Commerce
With the 2025 hurricane season underway in the eastern Pacific, Hurricane Erick is picking up speed as it heads toward southern Mexico, strengthening to a Category 2 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center. Erick is currently located in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 105 miles south of Puerto Ángel. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center forecast that Erick would rapidly intensify, strengthen throughout Wednesday, and reach “major hurricane strength” Wednesday night or early Thursday as it approaches the coast of southern Mexico. The storm is expected to bring damaging winds and “life-threatening flash floods,” with 8 to 16 inches of rain (20 inches maximum), across the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, which could lead to mudslides. It could also bring 2 to 4 inches (6 inches maximum) across Chiapas, Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco, and Mexico Cityand to Guatemala. Erick is expected to move inland or be near the coast on Thursday, prompting a hurricane warning from Acapulco to Puerto Ángel and a hurricane watch for west of Acapulco to Tecpán de Galeana. The storm will produce heavy rainfall across portions of Central America and southwest Mexico throughout the week, and a dangerous storm surge is expected to produce coastal flooding. How to track Hurricane Erick’s path in real time Erick, the fifth named storm for the current eastern Pacific hurricane season, is currently traveling northeast with sustained winds of about 85 mph (100 mph maximum), with higher gusts and hurricane-force winds extending 15 miles out from its center. It is expected to turn northwest later on Wednesday. Hurricanes can change paths quickly, which is why tracking the storm is so important. For updated information, advisories, and maps showing projected and traveled paths, check out these resources below: Esris Hurricane Aware National Hurricane Center
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E-Commerce
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