EWG Project
Toxics
The Work We Do in California
- Greening cleaning products in CA schools
- SB 797: Getting BPA out of baby bottles and infant formula
- Getting rocket fuel out of food and drinking water
- Questioning the need for fluoride in CA drinking water
- Getting cancer-causing chromium out of drinking water
- Getting toxic Teflon chemicals out of food packaging
- Improving indoor air quality in CA
- San Francisco considers cell phone radiation law
Greening cleaning products in California schools
More than 1 in 5 Californians –spend their day in a school. Cleaning products used in schools contain a many hazardous chemicals that can cause wide variety of health problems asthma, cancer, reproductive harm, and damage to the body’s nervous system and internal organs. A few school districts have switched to less-toxic cleaning products, but conventional cleaning products are still widely used.
Read EWG's new report on cleaning products in schools.
The Clean and Healthy Schools Act
EWG is sponsoring AB 821, The Clean and Healthy Schools Act, which would require California schools to switch to “environmentally preferable” if switching will have no net cost increase. Sign up for EWG’s email list to stay informed.
SB 797: Getting BPA out of baby bottles and infant formula
Millions of babies and toddlers in California are being exposed daily to the harmful toxin bisphenol-A (BPA). This hormone-disrupting chemical can be found in baby bottles, food and beverage containers and formula containers and is leaching into their food and drink.
While some manufacturers have already removed this substance from their products, it is still found in a wide variety of products.
The Toxics-Free Babies and Toddlers Act
EWG is sponsoring SB 797, The Toxics-Free Babies and Toddlers Act, which would ban the use of BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups, infant formula containers, and baby food jars. Many alternatives for these products are already on the market.
Get involved:
- Read the fact sheet on SB 797.
- Learn more about BPA on Enviroblog.
- Join the campaign on Facebook.
- Sign up for EWG’s email list to stay informed.
Blog Posts:
Getting rocket fuel out of food and drinking water
California is at the epicenter of the nation’s perchlorate problem.
Much of the food being grown in California’s agriculture rich Central Valley is being irrigated with this toxic rocket fuel chemical.
We Tested California Milk for Rocket Fuel
EWG was one of the first to raise the issue of perchlorate exposure through food with our testing of California milk and lettuce, and has also been working hard to get the lowest drinking water standard in California possible. The California EPA is currently reviewing its current standard in response to a petition that EWG helped craft.
Questioning fluoride in California drinking water
EWG supports the use of fluoride in toothpaste, where there is strong evidence of its effectiveness. We believe, however, that fluoridation of public water supplies should stop, because risks outweigh possible benefits, especially for infants and young children.
We want fluoride listed as a carcinogen in CA
For the past several years, EWG has been urging California policy makers to reconsider their decisions on public water fluoridation. EWG is also urging California to list fluoride as a carcinogen under California’s Proposition 65.
Getting cancer-causing chromium out of drinking water
California is five years overdue for setting drinking water standards for the carcinogenic chemical hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6 and EWG is actively pushing for its release.
We exposed false data showing that chromium is safe
In 2005, we helped expose how a San Francisco-based consulting firm hired by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) to fight the "Erin Brockovich" lawsuit distorted data from a Chinese study to plant an article in a scientific journal reversing the study's original conclusion that linked an industrial chemical to cancer. The study, which the journal has now retracted, was influential in an earlier California risk assessment of the chemical.
Read our Comments on Proposed Hexavalent Chromium PHG.
Curbing the Erin Brockovich Chemical on EWG's Kid-Safe Blog.
Getting toxic Teflon chemicals out of food packaging
EWG is urging California scientists to list the Teflon chemical PFOA as a carcinogen under California’s Proposition 65. PFOA has already been declared a likely carcinogen by the EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board but is still only subject to a voluntary phase out agreement that the EPA brokered with the chemical industry.
We sponsored bill to ban Teflon from food packaging
In 2008, EWG sponsored SB 1313, which would have banned the use of PFOA and related compounds in California’s food packaging. The bill successfully passed both the California Senate and Assembly only to be vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger .
Improving indoor air quality in California
EWG is continuing to push the California Air Resource Board to establish strict health standards for emissions of volatile chemicals and toxic air contaminants from everyday products like nail polish, body care products, paint thinner, and cleaning products. E
We worked to expose air quality problems in portable classrooms
WG has also played a key role in drawing attention to the serious air quality problems inside California’s portable classrooms and getting the state to begin addressing the issue.