Sharon Lerner
I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.
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What I Cover
My beat is health and the environment. Specifically, I cover the Environmental Protection Agency, charting its handling of pesticides, plastic-based fuels and other chemicals. I have reported on EPA whistleblowers who were pressured to downplay the harms posed by new chemicals, as well as on plastic, greenwashing and biosafety.
I have also written extensively about PFAS, a family of industrial pollutants linked to cancer, infertility, developmental harm and immune dysfunction. My reporting has focused on corporate irresponsibility and on the knowledge that PFAS manufacturers 3M and DuPont had of the chemicals’ harms.
My Background
I joined ProPublica in 2022 after seven years as an investigative reporter at The Intercept.
I’ve received numerous local and national awards for my reporting, including being honored by the Society of Environmental Journalists 12 times and by the Newswomen’s Club of New York, which named me its journalist of the year in 2021.
How 3M Execs Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe
Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work.
House Rep Demands Answers About Delayed EPA Report on PFNA, a Toxic Forever Chemical
In a letter to EPA Chief Lee Zeldin, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, cited a recent ProPublica story that quoted government scientists saying a yet-to-be-released report on the toxicity of PFNA was ready to publish in April.
Scientists Completed a Toxicity Report on This Forever Chemical. The EPA Hasn’t Released It.
Agency scientists found that PFNA could cause developmental, liver and reproductive harms. Their final report was ready in mid-April, according to an internal document reviewed by ProPublica, but the Trump administration has yet to release it.
RFK Jr. Vowed to Find the Environmental Causes of Autism. Then He Shut Down Research Trying to Do Just That.
While touting a $50 million initiative to identify the causes of autism, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is helping lead an administration that is rolling back protections against pollution and toxic chemicals, including some linked to the condition.
EPA Drops Legal Case Against the GEO Group, a Major Trump Donor, Over Its Misuse of Harmful Disinfectant in an ICE Facility
A complaint filed under the Biden administration alleged that on more than 1,000 occasions in 2022 and 2023, the GEO Group had its employees use the disinfectant, which causes irreversible eye damage and skin burns, without proper protection.
The Untold Story of How Ed Martin Ghostwrote Online Attacks Against a Judge — and Still Became a Top Trump Prosecutor
Martin’s career is dotted with ethical and professional questions, records show. Some of the most serious ones about the interim U.S. attorney for D.C. have remained buried in court filings, overlooked by the press or never reported — until now.
Earthjustice President Describes a “Fundamentally Different” Era of Hostility Toward Environmentalists
Abigail Dillen sees the increase of lawsuits targeting green groups as just one of the growing threats to environmental advocacy organizations — and the people who staff them.
Trump’s EPA Plans to Stop Collecting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data From Most Polluters
Climate experts expressed shock and dismay at the move. “It would be a bit like unplugging the equipment that monitors the vital signs of a patient that is critically ill,” one said.
TCE Is Linked to Heart Defects in Babies, Cancer and Parkinson’s. Republicans in Congress Want to Reverse a Ban on It.
The toxic substance, used in dry cleaning and manufacturing, has been linked to a host of serious health problems. A Biden-era ban on the chemical has faced multiple challenges since Trump took office.
NIH Ends Future Funding to Study the Health Effects of Climate Change
It’s unclear whether the guidance will impact active grants, but it appears to halt opportunities for future studies. One climate health expert said the directive would have a “devastating” impact on much-needed research.
Industry-Backed Legislation Would Bar the Use of Science Behind Hundreds of Environmental Protections
Two bills in Congress would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from using hundreds of chemical assessments completed by its IRIS program in environmental regulations or enforcement.