Dismantling EPA’s research office jeopardizes environmental safety, public health, and US competitiveness

Recent reports suggest that the US administration plans to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Research and Development (ORD) (1, 2).Most staff would be cut, with remaining personnel reassigned to program offices.The fate of ORD's laboratories, field stations, and scientific infrastructure remains uncertain.While a court order has temporarily paused EPA's reorganization, ORD staff remain in limbo, facing job uncertainty and the potential for a loss of scientific capacity (3).As former EPA and ORD scientists, we argue that dismantling ORD would not only jeopardize human and environmental health, but also weaken American science and global competitiveness.ORD's vital-yet often overlooked-contributions have transformed chemical safety in the United States and abroad.More than a research office, ORD is EPA's scientific core: a central hub with spokes reaching into every aspect of public health, technological innovation, and environmental protection ( Fig. 1 ).ORD has had a litany of achievements-losing or greatly weakening