Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

One nurse’s experience attending ANHE’s Hill Day and witnessing nurse constituents voice their concerns about environmental issues affecting their local communities.

By Amanda Dowe, RN, BSN| Chamberlain College of Nursing

Preparation for the Hill

A few weeks ago, I was blessed with an opportunity to participate in the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environment’s Legislative Hill Day. The day before meetings began ANHE held an intensive Hill Day preparation call and walked us through the importance of nursing advocacy, the impact of climate change on public health, and effective means of influencing legislators through storytelling. We not only reviewed the key legislative asks involving rollbacks of the Endangerment Finding, Toxic Substance Control Act, Clean Car Standards, Per-and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), and cuts to agencies like Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Weather Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), but we made connections to what we as nurses have seen in our practice or personal lives and how it impacts the health of our communities.

On the Hill

During the virtual Hill Day Meetings, nurse constituents from several states met with their elected representatives staffer and engaged in very focused conversations about how the repeals and rollbacks of the laws above would impact the public’s health. There were fifty three meetings scheduled and although I didn’t attend all, I still gained valuable insight. In the first meeting, a nurse from Connecticut explained how in the industrial town of Waterbury, children are experiencing asthma at alarming rates due to poor air quality. Another nurse asked for tax incentives for solar energy. A home infusion nurse discussed the implications of data centers and how decreased water pressure could present a risk for infection to patients if the nurse is unable to wash their hands. A Texan nurse constituent shared a personal experience of her son and husband using inhalers and how she couldn’t imagine the economic burden of emergency room bills for patients with exacerbation of respiratory conditions caused by poor air quality. On day 2, a New Mexico home health nurse expressed concerns of drought conditions and data centers posing a threat to their already low water supply.

After the Hill

ANHE’s Hill Day was a powerful experience! It was a breath of fresh air to witness nurses from all over the United States, unified with ANHE zoom backgrounds, taking time out of their day to advocate and voice their concerns about repeals and rollbacks of laws that members of their communities aren’t even aware of. The majority of the staffers were very appreciative and had “aha” moments when nurses were able to make relatable connections between climate change and health. But of course, there were some who weren’t impressed by the scientific findings. The one thing we all can agree on is, ANHE’s Legislative Hill Day 2026 proved that nurses have the power to influence policy decisions by reaching out to elected officials, and asking for support of protective policies that impact our environment and our health.

Author’s Reflection

To make changes and improve outcomes, nursing advocacy at the systems level is essential. Many times as nurses we don’t feel autonomous and we always feel as though decisions are being made for us without our inputs. ANHE’s Hill Day helped me realize that ADVOCACY is AUTONOMY! Think about it, at the bedside you can only impact one patient at a time but at the systems level you can help change laws that impact public health! Nurses are trusted messengers who close the gap between patients and legislators. Climate change is a threat to humanity and as nurses we have a moral obligation to raise climate awareness in elected officials as they have no idea of how their laws affect healthcare.  

Bio

Amanda Dowe is a Registered Nurse, and a Chamberlain College of Nursing student pursuing a MSN with a concentration in Healthcare Policy. Her nursing expertise is in Oncology, Home Infusion, and Utilization Management. She knows the disproportionate effects of climate change on vulnerable populations first hand when Hurricane Melissa destroyed Jamaica and she advocated for her family via email to government officials to ensure they received basic human necessities like food, water, and sanitation. Currently, she is working with ANHE to complete a practicum project on data centers. 

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Thousands of potentially unsafe, addictive, and cancer-linked chemicals have been introduced into the nation’s food supply through “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) pathway loopholes including voluntary notification. This allows food and chemical companies to self-determine the safety of food chemicals without premarket review by the Food and Drug Administration. Of the 756 voluntary GRAS notifications submitted to the FDA since 2000, just 10 chemicals underwent federal review. Yet, experts estimate that hundreds of other additives entered the food supply without federal notice.

As federal inaction continues, nurses and communities across the country are pushing for regulation and oversight. These grassroots movements have led to twenty-eight states introducing or passing bills banning cancer-linked food chemicals including Red 3, potassium bromate, and propylparaben.

Pressure is mounting on federal legislators to act. Recently, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing to review legislative proposals for food chemical regulation and oversight. Witnesses and lawmakers raised concern that FDA lacks sufficient staffing, funding, and authority to evaluate chemical harms and emerging risk factors. However, proposed legislation like the FDA Review and Evaluation for Safe, Healthy, and Affordable Foods (FRESH) Act of 2026 aims to correct the issue by limiting states’ ability to act and further undermining FDA’s premarket review authority. 

This continued and rampant addition of unvetted chemicals to the food supply directly harms our community’s health. The burden falls on those already facing higher health risks and deepens inequities that nurses confront every day. That is why nurses are urging Congress to strengthen FDA’s oversight of food chemicals and support clear, science-based safeguards that translate into healthier outcomes in the communities they serve.

Author

Short-form

Hailey Kufner, RN, is a critical care nurse and student at the University of Maryland. She currently resides in the Washington, D.C. metro area, with her partner, three cats, a school of fish, and an extensive plant collection.

Long-form

Hailey Kufner is a registered nurse and student at the University of Maryland. Her diverse professional background spans public health, marketing and communications, and critical care nursing.

She currently resides in the Washington, D.C. metro area, with her partner, three cats, a school of fish, and an extensive plant collection. In her free time, Hailey enjoys exploring the many natural hiking and biking trails the region has to offer.

The post House Committee on Energy and Commerce Health Hearing: Healthier America: Legislative Proposals on the Regulation and Oversight of Food appeared first on ANHE.

Washington, D.C. | May 18, 2026— Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rollback, removing 4 PFAS from their 2024 national, legally enforceable, and scientifically supported Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) drinking water standards while also proposing a two year delay, until 2031, for drinking water systems to comply with the enforceable limits.

The four PFAS slated for removal from the drinking water regulations include “GenX,” the forever chemical that replaced PFOA, which is widely used and has contaminated the drinking water source of 500,000 people in North Carolina and the Ohio River; PFHxS and PFNA, which are found in the blood of more than 95 percent of people living in the U.S., and PFBS which is a replacement for PFOS and still actively being produced and used in the U.S. These four PFAS have been linked to adverse effects on the liver, kidneys, and immune system, developmental and reproductive harm, and hormone disruption. 

In response to the announcement of today’s standard, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments Executive Director Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN issued the following statement: 

“PFAS chemicals are associated with many expensive, harmful chronic diseases and there are a myriad of PFAS in drinking water besides PFOA and PFOS, including the 4 PFAS whose standards EPA is proposing to repeal. There are thousands of additional PFAS that could be contaminating our drinking water that EPA does not currently monitor for. The EPA cannot be confident that simply monitoring and treating for only PFOA and PFOS will be sufficient as this is not supported by the evidence. With the Administration simultaneously proposing a 52% cut in EPA’s budget and the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds receiving an 87% cut, these actions will result in a huge step backwards and will not make America healthy again. Nurses will continue to fight for health protective science-based regulations.”

Most people are exposed to mixtures of PFAS and there is sufficient evidence that certain PFAS are associated with negative health outcomes including decreased antibody responses and dyslipidemia in both adults and children as well as decreased infant and fetal growth and increased risk of kidney cancer in adults. There will be a 60-day public comment period, and EPA will hold a public hearing on July 7, 2026. 

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Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) is the leading global nursing organization focused on the intersection of human and planetary health.  ANHE champions nurses as critical to promoting and protecting human health from environmental harm associated with degradation and disruption of Earth’s natural systems, especially for populations that are disproportionately exposed and overburdened. ANHE leads in engaging, educating, and mobilizing nurses in support of environmental health equity and justice.

http://enviRN.org

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May 15th, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact

Milagros R. Elia

Program Manager, Climate and Clean Energy Advocacy

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

milagros@envirn.org

914.455.1165

Nurses Opposes EPA’s  Proposed 2-year delay  of Vehicle Criteria Pollutant Standards 

[Washington, D.C.] Yesterday May 14th, 2026, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a delay in enforcement of limits on health-harming tailpipe pollution from cars and trucks for two years until the 2029 model year.

In response to the proposal, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments Executive Director Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN issued the following statement:

“Pollution from cars and trucks is linked to catastrophic health consequences including asthma and respiratory disease ,cancer, high blood pressure, blood clots, stroke, and heart attacks, among other illnesses. For children, long-term chronic exposure to tailpipe pollution can lead to permanently impairing lung development.

“As nurses we strongly urge the EPA to uphold its promise of access to clean air for all and fulfill its mission to protect human health and the environment. The proposed delay announced today does the opposite and will lead to preventable illness and rising healthcare costs.”

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The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to support nurses in promoting planetary health and equity globally by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating planet-safe practice, and influencing policy.

http://enviRN.org

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Every year, Health Care Without Harm and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments come together to honor a nurse who sees beyond the bedside – someone who understands that true healing requires clean air, safe water, and a stable climate. A nurse whose environmental activism and accomplishments have made a significant contribution to environmental health.

We are thrilled to announce Yasna Palmeiro-Silva, Ph.D.,  MPH,RN, as the 2026 Charlotte Brody Award recipient. A registered nurse from Chile, Palmeiro-Silva has transformed her experience in ICU bedside care into a powerful nurse-scientist voice at the intersection of climate change, population health, and global policy. 

Palmeiro-Silva didn’t start out as a climate researcher. She began her career as an ICU nurse, primarily working with cardiovascular disease and surgery patients – but something kept nagging at her.

“During my shifts, I noticed every single time that we were having younger and younger patients,” she reflected. “This is not okay. This is not sustainable. Because of their quality of life, but also because as a society, we cannot afford to have ill people.”

The realization that the hospital could not solve problems rooted in how we live, build our societies, and work drove her to take action. She left the ICU to study public health, then earned her Ph.D. in global health from University College in London. Her thesis linked climate change and public health in Chile. Today, she lives in Seattle, Washington, but her work continues to span continents.

One story Palmeiro-Silva shared stands out as a testament to what one nurse-scientist can achieve.

In Chile, the intersection of climate change, heat, and health was barely discussed until just three years ago. Palmeiro-Silva saw an opportunity – she took her epidemiological skills and produced evidence-based analysis for the policymaking sphere. The result? New policy.

“Right now, we have three or four laws that have been passed,” she said. One law explicitly requires that specific requirements be met to protect people’s health from climate change, now being woven into national and regional climate action plans.

This isn’t just advocacy – it’s systemic change.

When asked how she inspires other nurses to share her passion, Palmeiro-Silva was humble.

“For me, inspiring other people is not something that I consciously do,” she said. “I do it through dialogue and sharing of experiences.”

She notes that nursing education in Chile is heavily focused on clinical practice. By helping nurses understand how the problems they see during their shifts – younger patients, chronic diseases, respiratory distress – are linked to upstream factors like governance, policy, and the environment, she expands their perspective.

She’s spoken to nurses in Turkey, the United Kingdom, Latin America, and the United States, and she’s seeing the movement grow. “They see me as a thought leader who started in the ICU who is now pushing for policy change on a global level.”

Having worked extensively outside the United States, Palmeiro-Silva offered a powerful lesson for any health professional doing climate work here.

“What happens in one country could be totally different from another,” she cautioned. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn. She advocates for “learning from comparison; not competition.”

Her advice? Keep the big picture in mind. Climate change and health is a large, complicated problem, but it can be solved by various levels and individuals taking action inside their locus of control. “From the country level to the hospital to the nurse in the halls. Every action, no matter how little, matters.”

Palmeiro-Silva shows no signs of slowing down. She’s currently tracking heat measures and their impact on workers’ health, and she’s about to start a new project in Latin America examining the connection between temperature and cognitive performance in children, funded by Wellcome Trust.

Soon, she will begin a new role as a scientific advisor with Lancet Countdown Latin America, advising on how to track the intersection of climate change and population health, from heat mortality to heat action plans and public engagement.

“There is a need to be super active in this sphere and exit our comfort zone to go for the change that needs to happen,” she said.

When asked what or who gives her inspiration, Palmeiro-Silva simply said, “Every single person that I talk to. I am super open to learning from everybody – EVERYBODY.”

That openness, combined with rigorous science and a nurse’s heart, is exactly why Palmeiro-Silva is the 2026 Charlotte Brody Award winner.

Please join us in congratulating Palmeiro-Silva. And let her story remind us: whether you work in an ICU, policy office, or community clinic, you have a role to play in protecting environmental health.

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The Charlotte Brody Award is presented annually by Health Care Without Harm and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments to honor nurses who demonstrate outstanding leadership in environmental health.

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