About: Accomplishments

Recent Accomplishments

Fighting to Protect National Treasures From Mining. After EWG found that claims are soaring near the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and other treasured places, the House passed the first update of the nation’s hardrock mining law since 1872. The bill, which bans mining claims around national parks and wildnerness and imposes the first-ever royalties on minerals taken from public lands, awaits action in the Senate.

Sounding the Alarm Over Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water. For decades, perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel, leached from military bases and manufacturing plants into water supplies, contaminating the drinking water of 40 million people in nearly 30 states. In 2001 EWG put perchlorate on the map by exposing an unethical study where defense contractor Lockheed Martin was feeding the chemical to people in a failed attempt to show it was safe. In 2007, after EWG testimony before Congress on the need to protect infants and children from the powerful thyroid toxin, leaders in the House committed to passing a bill requiring EPA to set national safety standards for perchlorate in drinking water.

Made Sunscreens Safer. Digging into our Skin Deep database of personal care products, in 2007 we released startling evidence that many sunscreens are not safe or effective against the sun’s rays, despite claims to the contrary on the bottle. The storm of media coverage – Good Morning America, the CBS Early Show, CBS Evening News, ABC World News, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and nearly 350 news stories running on local ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates throughout the country – forced the Food and Drug Administration to propose tough federal rules that will ban bogus claims and require sunscreens to be tested and rated with consistent criteria for both UVA and UVB protection.

Exposed Chromium Fraud. An EWG investigation revealed that safety standards from chromium-6 – the “Erin Brockovich” chemical – had been skewed by a cancer study that was faked by an industry scientist who
doubled as a Bush Administration appointee. Media coverage led the Environmental Protection Agency to stop registration of all residential uses of a wood preservative containing chromium-6, keeping a potent carcinogen from entering the bloodstream of millions of unsuspecting children, homeowners, and workers.

Blew the Whistle on Corporate-Cozy Government Contractors. BPA is a plastic and resin ingredient used in polycarbonate bottles and the linings of metal food and drink cans, and an endocrine disruptor found
in the blood of almost all Americans. Our investigations found that BPA leached from over half of the food cans tested, and is used in the liners of every major brand of infant formula. But our research also uncovered a major conflict of interest of Sciences International, a consultant that
was running the federal safety review of BPA while also working for the chemical industry. SI was fired,the BPA review was turned over to an independent third party, and Congress began an investigation of corrupt contracting throughout all regulatory agencies.

Past Accomplishments

Agriculture

Congress voted to increase conservation payments to farmers by 80%, providing $13 billion over six years for programs to reduce water contamination and soil erosion, as well as to protect wildlife. EWG's searchable Farm Subsidy Database, which tracks recipients of 90 million government agriculture program checks, has shaken up the debate over continuing wasteful subsidies to big agribusinesses.

The World Trade Organization declared billions of dollars in U.S. cotton subsidies illegal. The decision was based on data and analyses EWG provided for Brazil, who filed the landmark case, citing the distortion of global prices and unfairly restricting developing nations' access to the world market.

President Bush proposed drastic cuts to wasteful farm aid in his 2006 budget. Data compiled online since 2001 by EWG — and the media attention generated through our advocacy — put public pressure on the Administration, resulting in a proposal to cut farm subsidy payments by 5% and close loopholes that allow farmers to pocket $1 million or more each year.

Toxics In Our Environment

The FDA issued a letter to the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association stating plans to enforce regulations on safety labeling of untested products. EWG's citizens' petition on unregulated toxic ingredients in cosmetics was cited as the reason for placing cosmetic safety in their top five Program Priorities for 2005.

In April 2005, the California Air Resources Board adopted the nation's strictest smog standards. EWG's Smoggy Schools report brought attention to the special risks faced by children and asthmatics due to high levels of ozone around California schools, as well as the $521 million spent by Californians on healthcare and missed school days because of poor air quality.

EPA banned deadly arsenic in decks and play-sets. EWG has sold over 7,000 home test kits to assess the presence of arsenic in soil and wood in homes across the country. We used this primary research to advocate for the ban and compiled a list of steps to reduce arsenic exposures from arsenic-treated wood.

Five dangerous pesticides were taken off the market, and hundreds of uses have been restricted. EWG was instrumental in winning passage of America's first federal law protecting children from toxic pesticides.

EWG's recommendations on a Teflon chemical were adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency. In February 2005, EWG presented a scientific risk-assessment of the Teflon chemical PFOA to an EPA panel. EWG made the ONLY science presentation from the public health/environment community amidst a sea of 3M and DuPont consultants.

Toxics In Our Bodies

The EPA called off the controversial CHEERS study. EWG loudly voiced opposition to this unethical "research", which was partially funded by the American Chemical Council. The study would have paid parents to expose their children to pesticides.

The Center for Disease Control added Teflon chemicals to their national biomonitoring program. EWG's Body Burden study — which tested human blood for a number of contaminants not tested for by the CDC — was largely responsible for bringing the prevalence of these cancer-causing chemicals to the attention of the public and the government.

Toxics In Our Food and Water

California and Massachusetts lowered acceptable levels for the rocket fuel ingredient, perchlorate, in drinking water. EWG reports showed the widespread presence of this toxin in food and milk due to water contamination, and prompted the FDA to speed up their national food testing program.

Several U.S. Representatives changed their votes on an MTBE provision in the Energy Bill. A series of reports by EWG on drinking water contamination by the gasoline additive MTBE were repeatedly cited in Congressional debates over the House Energy Bill. Our efforts ultimately changed votes on this provision, which benefits big oil companies at the expense of taxpayers.

The FDA placed canned tuna on their "limit consumption" list to warn pregnant women about mercury in the fish. EWG's primary research provided evidence of the risks mercury poses to developing infants and children.

California passed legislation to make drinking water safe for bottle-fed infants. EWG conceived, drafted, and helped rally support for legislation that was passed in California, which requires health officials to base drinking water standards on infants' weights and consumption patterns, rather than those of an adult male.

Public Lands

When EWG found out about an energy "junket" in Arizona, where Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the Bush Administration, and members of Congress met with extractive industry leaders, we wasted no time in notifying the media. EWG President Ken Cook was interviewed for a feature story on ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, highlighting that fact that mining, oil, and gas industries already have unfettered access to our public lands.

Kept Public Land Public. In 2005, when EWG learned that two Representatives slipped into a sprawling budget bill a stealth rider that would have put up for sale 350 million acres of public land, we tapped
into our mining claims database and put the debate on the nation’s front pages. Public outrage prevented the bill from passing the Senate.

Corporate/Institutional Accountability

EWG has drawn federal scrutiny to the plight of African American farmers. Our research prompted a Congressional reconsideration of the landmark $20 million black farmers' settlement by exposing USDA's discriminatory withholdings of funds from 9 percent of 100,000 eligible farmers.

EPA filed a complaint against DuPont for withholding information about the health concerns associated with Teflon chemicals. EWG's petition to the Agency notified them of the company's unlawful behavior on three separate counts for hiding critical study results in company file cabinets for up to 20 years.