About: Accomplishments

Recent Accomplishments

• Advancing the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act
• Progressing toward a ban of toxic plastic chemical BPA
• Blowing the whistle on FDA plan to push mercury-laced seafood
• Winning the debate (just not the vote) on farm subsidy fairness
• Calling Congress to account for proposing to cut conservation funding
• Pushing back on the ethanol industry's lobbying
• Fighting for New York's water supply
• Protecting national treasures from mining
• Sounding the alarm over rocket fuel in drinking water
• Fighting to ban Teflon-related compounds
• Pioneering a new approach to assessing chemical risks
• Breaking new ground on toxins in pets

Past Accomplishments

• Agriculture
• Toxics In Our Bodies
• Toxics In Our Food and Water
• Public Lands
• Corporate/Institutional Accountability

Recent Accomplishments

Advancing the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act.
EWG's work on toxic chemicals spurred the reintroduction of the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act, which would require mandatory biomonitoring of industrial chemicals in people. The legislation aims to replace the weak Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. EWG briefed Congressional staff members, organized briefings and laid the groundwork for hearings and passage of the bill as soon as the next Congress.

Progressing toward a ban of toxic plastic chemical BPA.
On October 31, the Science Board of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a stinging rebuke to the agency and embraced EWG arguments that bisphenol-A (BPA), a synthetic estrogen used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resin may be a threat to human health. The panel forced FDA to retreat from its stance that trace levels of BPA are safe in food packaging, including infant formula cans and baby bottles. EWG scientists testified, wrote comments and served on the expert panel for the Science Board.

In September, the National Institutes of Health's National Toxicology Program (NTP)declared that BPA, shown in laboratory tests to disrupt the endocrine system, may alter brain development, cause behavioral problems and damage the prostate glands in fetuses, infants and young children.

In 2009, EWG will work with Congressional leaders and the Obama administration to press for a federal ban of BPA in food packaging and other products that expose children and pregnant women to the chemical.

With strong advocacy by EWG's California office, the California assembly office came close to passing the first state-level BPA ban. In 2009, 13 state legislatures are expected to consider similar measures.

Blowing the whistle on FDA plan to push mercury-laced seafood.
On December 12, the Environmental Working Group made public internal government documents disclosing the Food and Drug Administration's secret plans to reverse federal warnings that pregnant women and children limit their fish intake to avoid mercury, a neurotoxin especially dangerous to the fetus and infants. EWG obtained both the FDA plan, stamped "CLOSE HOLD," and memos by senior Environmental Protection Agency scientists attacking FDA's rationale. The Washington Post broke the story, and other national stories followed.

Reaction from Capitol Hill was swift and sharp. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., denounced FDA: "Now, in the administration's 11th hour, they are quietly trying to water down advisories for women and children about the dangers of mercury in fish, disregarding sound science on this issue….This backroom bouquet for special interests should be stopped in its tracks. If they slip this through, I will work with the incoming Obama Administration to restore science-based decisions on mercury."

Winning the debate (just not the vote) on farm subsidy fairness.

EWG's campaign for equity in farm payment programs triggered 475 editorials from U.S. newspapers clamoring for reform of the farm subsidy system and changed the debate on government supports. President-elect Obama has indicated that he intends to halt farm subsidies to multi-millionaires.

EWG's farm subsidy database, with over 124 million searches since 2004, is used daily by policy makers, opinion leaders and advocates who continue to push for an overhaul of our misguided farm policy.

Calling Congress to account for proposing to cut conservation funding.
By $285 million -- only 29 days after passing the 2008 farm bill with promises to increase conservation spending. EWG issued two hard-hitting reports detailing the conservation programs slated for the chopping block and analyzing how much conservation funding states would lose if Congress went through with their proposed cuts.

Pushing back on the ethanol industry's lobbying.
For billions more in subsidies and bailouts to keep expanding production of corn ethanol with all its unresolved environmental and social problems. EWG, working with the Clean Air Task Force, Friends of the Earth, and the Network for New Energy Choices, developed a detailed agenda for overhauling ethanol and biofuel subsidies and mandates as part of a comprehensive energy policy for the United States.

Fighting for New York's water supply.
On September 10 and December 12, senior mining analyst Dusty Horwitt testified before the New York City Council Environmental Protection Committee on proposed natural gas drilling in the New York City watershed. Natural gas companies want to use a process called hydraulic fracturing, which involves injecting water laced with toxic chemicals into the ground. The technique threatens environmental health and the safety of public drinking water, not to mention New York's bakers, who attribute their unsurpassed pizza and bagels to the purity of New York City water. EWG agreed with committee chairman James Gennaro that no gas drilling be allowed in the city's watershed.

Protecting national treasures from mining.
In June, after EWG exposed a surge in uranium and other mining claims near the Grand Canyon, Congress invoked its rarely-used emergency authority to ban mining on more than 1 million acres around the canyon, but the Bush administration defied the legally bindng resolution.

In 2009, EWG will press the Obama administration and Congress to protect the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River that flows through it. EWG will also work with the new Congress to pass comprehensive mining reform, following on House passage in 2007 of the first update of the nation's hardrock mining law since 1872. The Senate did not act on the bill, which bans mining activity that would impact around national parks and monuments and imposes the first-ever royalties on minerals taken from public lands.

Sounding the alarm over rocket fuel in drinking water.
EWG worked intensely to press EPA to crack down on pollution of perchlorate, a rocket fuel component and thyroid toxin, in drinking water. Agency leaders refused and were widely denounced by newspaper editorials and environmentalists.

On May 6, EWG Executive Director Richard Wiles testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at a hearing on legislation by committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to set national safety standards for perchlorate in drinking water.

Leached from military bases and manufacturing plants into water supplies, the chemical has contaminated the drinking water of 40 million people in nearly 30 states. Research shows it disrupts the production of thyroid hormones, essential for brain development. In 2001 EWG put perchlorate on the map by exposing an unethical human experiment: defense contractor Lockheed Martin was giving the chemical to people in a failed attempt to show it was safe.

California officials announced they would reassess their public health goal for perchlorate after EWG and other advocacy groups petitioned them to do so.

Fighting to ban Teflon-related compounds.
In August, in response to an intensive education campaign by EWG, the California state assembly passed a bill banning two Teflon-related chemicals -- perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluoroctanic acid (PFOA) -- from use in food packaging such as burger wrapping and pizza boxes. The chemicals have been linked to cancer and developmental problems in chidren. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill. EWG will renew its efforts to see it passed in 2009.

Pioneering a new approach to assessing chemical risks.
EWG testified twice in front of the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies about the dangers of phthalates, industrial plasticizers that disrupt the endocrine system and have been shown to cause developmental malformations in male reproductive systems. Phthalates are banned in Europe for use in cosmetics.

On Dec. 18, in response to EWG and other environmental health advocates, the NRC recommended that EPA adopt a drastically different, and potentially faster and more definitive, method of assessing the risks of industrial chemicals like phthalates. Instead of studying each chemical (and similarly structured chemicals) in isolation, NRC said, EPA should conduct cumulative, real-world risk assessments for chemicals that cause similar health effects. NRC said EPA must recognize that humans are exposed to multiple chemical and that exposure levels change over time.

Breaking new ground on toxins in pets.
EWG launched Pets for the Environment in early 2008 to focus on toxic chemicals in pet food, toys and household furnishings. EWG’s unprecedented study found that companion dogs and cats were contaminated with 48 of 70 industrial chemicals tested, particularly mercury, flame retardants, stain treatments and grease resistant coatings. Dog Fancy magazine ran a cover story on EWG research on animal body burden. Thousands of pet owners wrote EWG and spokesdog Eddie, who posted their photos on his Wall of Cute.

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.

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.

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

EPA arsenic ban 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 taken off the market, and hundreds of uses 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 adopted by EPA.
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 perchlorate levels 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.

Legislation to make drinking water safe for bottle-fed infants passed by California assembly.
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 then-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 members of Congress 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.