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Nonstick Chemicals

Water

New for Earth Day: EWG’s Healthy Living Mobile App

Friday, April 22, 2016

Go green this Earth Day with EWG’s new Healthy Living app. We’ve heard you loud and clear. Time and again, we’ve been asked to package our advice and consumer guides so you can use them wherever you go to help make the better choice every time you shop.

Key Issues:

Cosmetics

Organic Produce – A Path to Health and Prosperity

Thursday, April 21, 2016

It may sound corny, but it’s time to celebrate good old-fashioned fruits and veggies of the organic bent. We have been told since we were toddling to “eat your fruits and veggies dear.” We know that eating our fill will give us the finest of fiber and the vitality of vitamins and minerals. Loading up on fresh fare will keep us off the path to heart disease and obesity. If you’re like me, it’s comforting to know you can eat as much as you want and not feel the guilt or the bulge. There is, however, one important side note to this verdant theme. Organic fresh produce is your best path to health and even prosperity!

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What Does a Good Breakfast Cereal Look Like?

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Breakfast cereals like Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and General Mills’ Cheerios have been breakfast table regulars for nearly a century. Many of us think of them as a healthy way to start the day. After all, several are made from whole grains, contain a good amount of fiber and feature several vitamins and minerals. These attributes are generally considered good for us, so it should follow that the foods also are healthy. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

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Healthy Eating

As Zika Spreads, Everyone Should Take Precautions

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

What are your chances of getting bit by a mosquito infected with the Zika virus?

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Why Children, Pregnant Women Should Eat Food with Fewer Pesticides

Monday, April 18, 2016

“For many children, diet may be the most influential source” of pesticides, said the Academy of Pediatrics in a landmark report published in November 2012.

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Would Chemical Safety Bill be “Gold Standard” or “Fool’s Gold?”

Friday, April 15, 2016

Cal Dooley, the top lobbyist for the chemical industry, likes to say he is optimistic that the proposed chemical safety law being developed in Congress would be the “gold standard” on which other nations could base their chemical regulations. While there’s still a slim chance the new legislation might be better than current law, let’s not get carried away.

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Growing Organic and Growing Pains

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

This week EWG asked our Facebook followers to thank Driscoll’s, the nation’s largest grower of strawberries, for its investment in organic farming to date and commitment to increasing organic production in the future. Some people took us to task, expressing concern over the company’s labor practices and its incomplete use of organic practices during the full growing cycle.

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Pesticides

Strawberries Top the List of Worst Fruits and Veggies for Pesticide Residues

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

One of your kid’s favorite fruits is hiding a dirty secret. Of all the fresh fruits and vegetables available for sale in the United States, sweet, sun-kissed strawberries are the most likely to be contaminated with pesticide residues, according to EWG’s 2016 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce.

Key Issues:

Pesticides

Despite Record Growth, There’s Still Too Little Organic Food

Friday, April 8, 2016

Consumers and the environment have reason to rejoice. According to new data released this week by the Department of Agriculture, the number of certified organic farms and operations in the United States surged by almost 12 percent from 2014 to 2015.

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Farming

Toxic Contamination Begins in the Womb

Friday, April 8, 2016

National media outlets, public health officials and Congress have all focused recently on lead contamination in drinking water, as they should be. The tainted water in Flint, Mich., Newark, N.J. and many other communities around the country poses a serious, potentially lifelong public health threat to millions. But industrial pollution in people happens long before they take their first sip of water.

Key Issues:

Water

It’s National Teflon Day – But Hold the Celebration

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

On this day in 1938, a DuPont chemist named Roy J. Plunkett in Deepwater, N.J., accidentally discovered polytetrafluoroethylene, a slippery substance remarkably resistant to water, grease and stains. DuPont patented PTFE as Teflon. To honor Plunkett’s discovery, April 6 is National Teflon Day, according to nationaldaycalendar.com, which tracks such things. We won’t be celebrating.

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Nonstick Chemicals

EWG Ranks Cleaning Products for Babies

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Every parent knows that caring for a new baby requires lots and lots of cleaning. But can washing up the milk and spit-up introduce your baby to potentially harmful chemicals?

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FDA-Approved Food Packaging Exposes Babies to Toxic Rocket Fuel Chemical

Monday, April 4, 2016

Perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel, may be harming your baby’s development – and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is allowing it to happen, even in the face of clear health hazards.

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Five Questions From Ken: Priscilla Woolworth

Friday, April 1, 2016

“Five Questions from Ken” is a new series of conversations with EWG President Ken Cook and inspiring leaders of the environmental health world.

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Local & Sustainable

Legal Experts: Supreme Court Decision on Mercury Pollution Could Undercut Chemical Reform

Thursday, March 31, 2016

You might think you can’t put a price on protecting public health and the environment. But you’d be wrong — especially if we’re talking about the nation's broken and outdated chemicals law, the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA.

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Chemical Policy (TSCA)

The Real Deal Behind Kraft’s “New” Mac & Cheese

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Kraft made headlines a year ago when it announced changes to its famed, kid-favorite macaroni and cheese. The company vowed to replace artificial dyes with natural ingredients and to eliminate artificial flavors and preservatives. Nearly a year later, Kraft has unveiled a massive marketing campaign for what the company calls the “world’s largest ‘blind taste test’.”

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Healthy Eating

Premature Births Linked to Toxic Chemicals

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The rate of premature births in the U.S. is among the highest in the developed world, with nearly one in 10 babies born in 2014 arriving before 37 weeks of pregnancy.

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What Bedazzling Easter Dresses Can Tell Us About Chemical Reform

Friday, March 25, 2016

It’s the time of year for pretty Easter dresses, and for many kids, the frillier and shinier, the better. Parents, however, should beware of dresses packaged with metal jewelry.

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Chemical Policy (TSCA)

Lead

Children’s Products

Will New Toxics Law Hide Secret Chemicals?

Friday, March 25, 2016

When Jon Whelan first smelled a strange odor coming from his daughter's brand-new pajamas, he wanted to find out what caused it. He had no idea that this seemingly simple question would lead him on a quest through corporate boardrooms, the halls of Congress, and back alleys, eventually to discover that companies are not required to disclose whether their products contain potentially toxic chemicals.

Key Issues:

Chemical Policy (TSCA)