The Issue
Consumer Products
EWG offers you popular, easy-to-use guides to help you choose products and foods that are free of toxic ingredients, safe for your children and environmentally friendly.
Sign Up
The Latest on Consumer Products
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read MoreEWG'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.
Read More
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.
Read MoreAntibacterial cleaning wipes are everywhere, but are they harmless? Unfortunately, for most popular versions, that's not the case.
Read MoreEWG comments on FDA's efforts to ensure the safety and effectiveness of sunscreens. The sunscreen rulemaking process began in 1978, but FDA's 2011 rules do not sufficiently protect the public from misleading marketing, hazardous ingredients or inferior products.
Read MoreChildhood obesity rates in the U.S. are at an all-time high, while the quality of our children’s food has reached a new low.
Even though toxic flame retardant chemicals were banned in 2006, pregnant women in California carry high levels of the hazardous substances in their blood, according to a new study by scientists at UC San Francisco's Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment.
Read More
The Burlingame, Calif., city council has passed a motion to post guidelines on the city’s website to advise consumers how they can minimize their exposure to cell phone radiation.
Read MoreAlthough parents are likely feeling reassured by the first media headlines about a new Swiss study of brain tumor risk in children using cell phones, the findings are actually quite troubling, according to a review by Environmental Working Group.
Read MoreIs your reusable water bottle aluminum? In an effort to be more sustainable and protect my health, I made the switch from plastic water bottles to my reliable metal bottle that I carry with me every day. I thought this switch was a positive change, which is why I'm a little concerned to read headlines that "Metal Water Bottles May Leach BPA."
Read MoreWatch Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group, share shocking information about how babies are born pre-polluted with as many as 300 industrial chemicals in their bodies.
Read MoreMost people are - by now - well aware that overexposure to formaldehyde is unsafe. From the FEMA trailer fiasco (remember Katrina?) to the Obama administration's recent decision to classify formaldehyde as a known human carcinogen, it's hard to not know you should avoid formaldehyde-laced products.
Read More
