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The Latest on Consumer Products
Finding a nasty flame retardant in peanut butter and other food products brought EWG senior analyst Sonya Lunder to tell E&E reporter Jeremy Jacobs: "We are contaminating our food chain with chemicals that are long-lasting in the environment and harmful to our health. We need to stop this."
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When I spoke with EWG senior analyst Nneka Leiba about this year's sunscreen database she had mixed feelings.
"On one hand, we can recommend 25 percent of sunscreens on the market," she said. "On the other hand, we can recommend 25 percent of sunscreens on the market."
After five years of advocating more effective and safe sunscreens, we're excited to see some progress in the marketplace. Last year we could recommend 20 percent of sunscreens, and the year before only eight percent. Why is that?
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Consumers can have confidence in about one quarter of the sunscreen products on store shelves this year, according to Environmental Working Group’s review and ranking of more than 1,800 products. Last year, only 20 percent got EWG’s best ratings, and only 8 percent scored well in 2010.
Read MoreLate Thursday EWG found out the Food and Drug Administration was going to delay their sunscreen regulations by six months, at the request of the cosmetics industry. EWG replied with a statement that called out the agency's foot-dragging and highlighted the disservice to consumers. USA Today, Forbes, Mother Jones, Los Angles Times and E&E News all ran stories.
Read MoreNicholas Kristof a columnist for The New York Times, has written about the expanding evidence that hypospadias and other birth defects in people and wildlife that may be linked to the daily bombardment of endocrine disruptors in household goods, pesticides and other man-made products.
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The "Hall of Shame" of the dirtiest cleaners from our upcoming EWG Cleaners Database was released Monday evening to our email list and selective media outlets. EWG supporter feedback was impressive - the two posts to our Facebook fans received over 450 "likes." The media took interest too, with Yahoo!, Time, and Good Magazine all running stories. What was one website's way to encourage its readers to use safer cleaning products? Urge them to utilize the help of a popular A-list celebrity.
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Last month, the New York Times published a story about my efforts when I was pregnant to rid my home of toxic chemicals. The story featured a photo of my 18-month-old daughter and recounted how I threw out a large pile of cosmetics, cleaners and other products that my research, using EWG's online Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, found to contain dangerous substances. While at the time I thought I was doing the right thing for my family, when I read readers' comments, I felt as if I were on Nickelodeon, in one of those scenes when an unsuspecting person has an entire bucket of green slime dumped on her head.
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News coverage of EWG topics including cosmetics and household toxins appeared across the web from sites including the Los Angeles Times, Shine by Yahoo!, and Prevention. EWG released a statement on a finding from an independent science panel finding PFOA, an ingredient that has been used to make non-stick coatings and stain-resistant materials, is linked to testicular and kidney cancers.
Read MoreEWG's Cleaners Hall of Shame unearths compelling evidence that common household cleaners, including some hyped as “safe” or “natural,” can inflict serious harm on unwary users.
Read MoreOnce again, the federal agency charged with protecting the public from tainted food has ignored a mountain of scientific research and decided to allow a toxic chemical to remain in food packaging. The federal Food and Drug Administration announced today it would not take immediate steps to bar Bisphenol-A, or BPA, a synthetic estrogen and plastics component, in canned food and liquid infant formula containers.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned this week that more than 35 imported skin creams, antiseptic soaps and anti-aging lotions have recently been tied to mercury poisoning that in some instances sent users to the hospital.
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The maker of Brazilian Blowout -- one of numerous hair straighteners on the market containing formaldehyde, a known carcinogen -- is now required to provide health warnings on its product's packaging and website, revamp deceptive marketing practices and pay civil penalties under California consumer protection law. These measures are part of a settlement agreement between the Los Angeles-based company and California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
Read MoreU.S. Food and Drug Administration researchers have detected lead in 400 brands of lipstick tested by the agency. At least two popular brands had amounts of the neurotoxin above the threshold the state of California considers safe in personal care products, which is 5 parts per million.
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EWG and consumer advocate Public Citizen filed a brief supporting San Francisco’s decision to require cell phone vendors to give consumers facts about potential health risks of cell phone radiation and advice on safer cell phone use.
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People are messy. So is nature. And what people do when nature unleashes its fury often makes things worse.
The staff at Environmental Working Group took a look at the major environmental news stories of the year and came up with two lists: the Top 10 Good News stories and the Top 10 Bad News stories.
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EWG's 2011 Teen Ambassadors interview other teens to find out how much they know about ingredients in their cosmetics - and share some shocking findings about the safety of make-up and personal care products.
Read MoreA ground-breaking consumer right-to-know bill introduced today by Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) would close labeling requirement loopholes that have allowed manufacturers to hide untested and even carcinogenic ingredients in their cleaning products.
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Fabric softeners contain toxic ingredients that are bad for your health and the environment. EWG recommends that laundry doers just say no.
Read MoreA quick spritz of air freshener may seem like a simple way to kill funky odors. Unfortunately, that pleasing smell is just more indoor air pollution.
Read MoreNearly thirty-three years after the federal Food and Drug Administration announcing its intention to develop sunscreen regulations, it finally finalized some of its rules this summer. And while we at the Environmental Working Group were pleased with some of the progress made, in some key areas the FDA didn't go far enough to protect public health.
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