A new White House report from President Donald Trump's Make America Healthy Again commission names microplastics and chemicals in plastics like phthalates as potential contributors to chronic health problems in U.S. children.

The May 22 report, spearheaded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to lead to a second White House report by mid-August outlining more detailed strategies.

Even without the detailed action plan, however, it suggests that parts of the Trump administration could be open to major changes in how chemicals are regulated.

The White House report builds on comments Kennedy made at a plastics conference in April where he discussed concerns over chemicals in plastics and outlined tougher regulations for evaluating food packaging.

"We will end the childhood chronic disease crisis by attacking its root causes head-on — not just managing its symptoms," said Kennedy, in a statement announcing the new report.

The 73-page report names four broad causes: ultra-processed foods and poor diet, environmental chemical exposure, lack of physical activity with too much screen time, and over-medication.

In several places it identifies chemicals in plastics as an exposure source, alongside pesticides, fluoride and fluorinated chemicals, general industrial and air pollution, dioxins and radiation from mobile phones and Wi-Fi.

A senior administration official publicly singled out plastics.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in her daily briefing May 22, identified "environmental chemicals exposure, plastics and other chemicals that are unfortunately part of our daily American life" as one factor contributing to chronic diseases, as she answered a question about the report.

"This report is a review of preexisting research to comprehensively assess what we understand about our health problems, and what we don't understand, and how we can find those answers," Leavitt said. "All of the findings will be based on the gold standard of science."

The HHS news release announcing the report said the government would "act swiftly to close research gaps" and support revising the "generally regarded as safe" standards for approving food packaging.

The report was officially released at a White House ceremony attended by Trump, Kennedy and other top officials, including the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Agriculture.

In opening comments, Trump pointed to rising rates for childhood obesity, autism and cancer, and noted that Kennedy earlier announced that companies agreed to phase out eight common artificial food dyes.

"Unlike other administrations, we will not be silenced or intimidated by the corporate lobbyists or the special interests," he said. "I want this group to do what they have to do. … In some cases it won't be nice and it won't be pretty."

The MAHA commission was formed by Trump in a Feb. 13 executive order.

"We will not stop until we defeat the chronic disease epidemic in America," Trump said, pointing to risks from ultra-processed foods, over prescribing of medicine and "widespread exposure to potentially toxic chemicals."

The White House report noted concerns about the "cumulative load of thousands of synthetic chemicals" children are exposure to, and said that pesticides, microplastics and dioxins are commonly found in the blood and urine — "some at alarming levels" — of U.S. children and pregnant women.

It argued that no country completely understands the health effects of the complex mixture of chemicals that children are exposed to.

"It is critical to recognize that chemicals are important tools that are inextricably linked to economic growth and innovations — helping to feed, shelter and power every American and maintain food safety standards," the report said. "Yet regulatory and medical systems around the world largely evaluate chemicals or chemical classes individually and may be neglecting potential synergistic effects and cumulative burdens."

In another section, it noted research pointing to potential cumulative effects from exposure to microplastics used in products like clothing, medicine and shower gels.

"One single-site study in 2025 showed that the concentration [of microplastics] found in Americans' brain tissue increased by 50 percent between 2016 and 2024," the report said.

"Some studies have additionally found that microplastics often carry endocrine-disrupting chemicals that interfere with hormonal development and potentially trigger early puberty — especially in girls — and heighten the risks of obesity, infertility and hormone-related cancers," it said.

The commission's report also singled out phthalates, noting their use in PVC flooring, food packaging, personal care products, fabrics and medical devices.

"Research shows continuous exposure to certain phthalates can trigger hormone dysregulation and reproductive and developmental problems for babies in-utero and infants," it said.

Bisphenols, used in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, are shown in some studies to mimic estrogen and interfere with human hormone and reproductive systems, the report said.

The report noted that research is often split on the risks from chemical exposure, which is said shows the need for more studies from the private and public sectors, particularly the NIH.

Initial plastics industry reaction to the report was muted.

The American Chemistry Council said it was pleased the report acknowledged chemistry's positive role and pointed to more than $12 billion in research and development by the industry in 2023.

But it sidestepped the report's detailed comments on plastics and chemical exposures.

"Keeping all Americans healthy — especially children — is something everyone supports," it said. "New recommendations or next steps based upon this report should be driven by sound science. The domestic chemical manufacturing industry has and can continue to advance approaches that improve risk-based decision making."

ACC noted that its Long-Range Research Initiative is investing in research to understand chemical effects on human health and the environment.

But the MAHA report questioned some industry-funded science, arguing that in the case of nutrition research, industry-funded work "may bias conclusions in favor of sponsors' products."

"It's common sense that research funded by corporations deserves more scrutiny than independent studies," Kennedy told the White House event.

The report said the chemical industry spent $77 million on lobbying in 2024 and said that 60 percent of its lobbyists previously held federal jobs.

Some other industries pushed back strongly on the MAHA report. The Farm Bureau, in a May 22 statement, urged Trump to have farmers at the table and reject "emotionally charged rhetoric" about food safety.

"It is deeply troubling for the White House to endorse a report that sows seeds of doubt and fear about our food system and farming practices, then attempts to celebrate farmers and the critical role they play in producing the safest food supply in the world," the group said.

While ACC gave a muted reaction to the MAHA work, its leaders have previously been much more enthusiastic publicly about the deregulatory approach that Trump's new EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, is taking.

ACC CEO Chris Jahn, for example, told an industry conference in April the group had a "palpable sense of optimism" about Zeldin's EPA.

The EPA oversees chemical regulation broadly, while Kennedy's HHS and its agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health focus more on food packaging and longer-term health research.

Zeldin, in a written statement about the MAHA report, said that "America's childhood chronic disease crisis will be solved through innovation."

At one point in the White House event, Kennedy echoed that language and suggested he wanted to avoid overregulation, as the MAHA commission he heads develops its strategy over the next 80 days.

"This administration has the bravery to tell the truth and solve problems through innovation and not nanny state regulation," Kennedy said.