Chemical Families
- Air pollutants
- Alcohols
- Aldehyde
- Alkanes
- Alkyl ethoxylates
- Alkylated chains
- Alkylphenols
- Alpha hydroxy acids
- Aluminium compounds
- Amino acids
- Amphibole-group minerals
- Antimony compounds
- Arsenic compounds Arsenic is a known human carcinogen found in most outdoor wooden structures ("pressure-treated" wood) built before 2004. Arsenic sticks to children's hands when they play on the wood, and is absorbed through the skin and ingested when they put their hands in their mouths. Thanks to pressure from EWG, arsenic is no longer used for pressure-treating outdoor wood -- but children still risk exposure when playing on decks and playgrounds built before the ban.
- Barium compounds
- Benzophenones
- Beryllium compounds
- Beta hydroxy acids
- Bismuth compounds
- Bisphenol A & BADGE
On April 16, 2008, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) raised concerns that exposure to BPA during pregnancy and childhood could impact the developing breast and prostate, hasten puberty, and affect behavior in American children. Days later the Canadian government decided to label BPA as "toxic." These actions are a historic shift from previous regulatory decisions on BPA's safety, both in the U.S. and abroad. In particular, the decision reversed the findings of a previous NTP advisory panel, whose review process was driven by a private contractor with links to BPA producers.
EWG GUIDES
EWG has forcefully advocated for health protective safety standards to limit BPA exposures for infants and children. Our analysis of the risks posed by BPA contamination of canned food and infant formula and documentation of BPA use by every major formula producer led to a congressional Inquiry into the use of BPA in formula packaging and the adequacy of FDA's safety assessment. The Canadian action will ban BPA in baby bottles, and the government is pushing infant formula companies to replace BPA in their packaging. Meanwhile, manufacturers like Nalgene and Playtex have announced a phaseout of BPA plastics, and retail giants like Wal-Mart and Toys"R"Us will discontinue sales of these products.
Despite recent progress, BPA is a signature compound in the fight for reform of the nation's toxic chemicals laws. Studies indicate that nearly every American is exposed to the chemical, and that infants and children are at the highest risk for BPA toxicity. Daily exposures may exceed levels harmful in laboratory studies, and the associated effects—breast and prostate cancer, early puberty and behavior problems—are on the rise. Despite the urgency of the issue, the federal government has only the most clumsy and convoluted authority to control BPA use and reduce exposure to populations at risk.
EWG continues to call for federal agencies to fully assess the safety of children's BPA exposures from formula, baby bottles and other sources.
- Botanical essential oils
- Brominated dioxins & furans Dioxins and furans are created when plastic or wastes are incinerated. They are dispersed in the environment and accumulate in fish and other fatty foods. Dioxins and furans are highly toxic and disrupt brain development and hormone systems, particularly in the developing fetus.
- Brominated Fire Retardants
- Cadmium compounds
- Calcium compounds
- Chlorinated dioxins & furans
- Chromium compounds
- Coal tar dyes
- Cobalt compounds
- Colorants
- Copper compounds
- Cresols
- Epoxides
- Ethers
- Fluoride compounds
- Haloacetic acids Haloacetic acids are another class of common byproducts of water disinfection, including monochloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid. The human health effects have not been well documented, howeversome epidemiological studies suggest that HAA exposure during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy may be linked to birth defects in newborns. Exposure can be dramatically reduced with a filtration system.
- Halogenated benzenes
- Halogens
- Hormones
- Inorganic compounds
- Inorganic ions
- Inorganic salts
- Ionizing radiation
- Iron compounds
- Lead compounds
- Lithium compounds
- Magnesium compounds
- Manganese compounds
- Mercury compounds Mercury is one of the oldest known toxins, responsible for a variety of impacts to the brain and nervous system, especially the developing fetus. Coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources are the main sources of mercury in the environment; mercury in your body comes from eating fish, or from a flu shot.
- Metals
- Miscellaneous pesticides
- Molybdenum compounds
- Nano-scale Materials Nanoscale materials are characterized by very small particles whose surface area and shape imparts unique and useful properties. While the health impacts and absorption of these particles by humans is poorly understood, there are a number of studies demonstrating different toxicities compared to larger particles. Consumers are exposed to them through thousands of products including a variety of cosmetics and sunscreens.
- Natural products
- Nickel compounds
- Nitrate compounds
- Nitro- and polycylic- musks
- Nitrosamines
- Nitrosating agents
- Noble gas
- Organic compounds
- Organic salts
- Organochlorine Pesticides (OCs)
- Organophosphate Pesticides (OPs)
- Oxides
- Parabens Parabens are widely used synthetic preservatives found in the most of the nearly 25,000 cosmetics and personal care products in Skin Deep. Parabens can disrupt the hormone (endocrine) system, and were found in the breast cancer tumors of 19 of 20 women studied. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tested urine from 100 adults and found parabens in nearly all.
- Perchlorate
- Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) Polyfluorinated chemicals are widely used as water, stain and grease repellants for food wrap, carpet, furniture, and clothing that have been detected in adults, newborns, and wildlife all around the globe. They persist in the body for decades, acting through a broad range of toxic mechanisms to present potential harm to a wide range of organs. EWG's work has resulted in an international phaseout effort and court victories against major manufacturers.
- Petroleum distillates and process streams
- Pharmaceuticals
- Phenols
- Phthalates Invented in the 1930s, phthalates (tha–lates) are found in many everyday products, from cosmetics to flexible plastics used to make food wraps, toys, and building materials. Studies of suggest exposure to phthalates increases the risk of reproductive system birth defects and hormonal alteration in baby boys, and reproductive problems and hormonal changes in men. Though phthalates are considered hazardous waste and are regulated as air and water pollutants, they are unregulated in food, cosmetics, and consumer and medical products.
- Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) PBDEs are chemicals used as fire retardants in foam furniture and the plastic of TVs and computer monitors. They accumulate in people and wildlife and disrupt brain development and hormone systems. 2 forms of PBDEs have been pulled from the US market after EWG and others revealed high levels in the blood, milk and body tissues of Americans, but a 3rd type is still used in electronics.
- Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) PCBs are persistent contaminants that impact the brain, nervous and hormone systems. PCBs were banned in the 1970s but despite the ban, human exposure continues from fatty foods. EWG is working to clean up food fed to farmed salmon, which contain high concentrations of these chemicals.
- Polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs)
- Polymer derivatives
- Potassium compounds
- Radioactive compounds
- Radioactive particles
- Selenium compounds
- Short halogenated compounds
- Siloxanes and silicones
- Silver compounds
- Sodium compounds
- Strontium compounds
- Substituted benzenes
- Terpenoids
- Thallium compounds
- Titanium compounds
- Trihalomethanes (THMs) THMs, the most common byproducts formed when water is disinfected, are comprised of four compounds: chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform. Numerous studies have shown that although drinking water is a major exposure route for THMs, showering and bathing are important routes through inhalation and dermal absorption. High concentrations of THMs have been associated with varying degrees of birth defects. To decrease exposure to THMs, consumers should consider buying water filtration systems.
- Unidentified or misc. family
- Uranium compounds
- UV filters
- Vanadium compounds
- Volatile and semivolatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs)
- Zinc compounds
- Zirconium compounds
