The Issue
Chemical Policy
EWG is a leader in the effort to reform toxic chemical policy to ensure that all products are safe, especially for children. The government and consumers know little or nothing about of the safety of the the over 80,000 chemicals that can be used in consumer products.
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The Latest on Chemical Policy
EWG's Renee Sharp testifies to the California state Senate about the need to remove BPA and lead from children's products.
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In a welcome first step toward fundamental reforms to the way toxic chemicals are reviewed and then used in consumer products, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held its first oversight hearing this Congress looking into the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) – the nation’s outdated, industry-friendly law that allows virtually any chemical to be used in commerce without first testing for safety.
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Three weeks after the launch of a major Congressional investigation into conflicts of interest compromising EPA expert review panels and the revelation that EPA, at the request of the chemical industry, had fired a career public health professional as chair of an important chemical safety review panel, EPA convened yet another panel with members linked to polluting industries.
Read MoreThe powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee today launched a landmark investigation into the chemical industry lobby group, The American Chemistry Council (ACC). In a letter to ACC President Jack Gerard, Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak – the committee chair and its investigations chair – demanded that the industry come clean about the degree to which it has been able to corrupt science at the Environmental Protection Agency.
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EWG urges the California Air Resources Board to reverse a proposal that would weaken safety and anti-smog standards for cleaning products, cosmetics and other household products.
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Two powerful chairmen of the House committee that oversees the EPA are launching an investigation into the chemical industry’s undue influence on Agency panels that recommend critical public health safeguards for chemical pollutants. The inquiry stems from documents released recently by EWG showing that the EPA sacked a respected public health scientist from the Maine Centers for Disease Control as a panel chair, at the request of the chemical industry lobby group the American Chemistry Council.
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At the request of a chemical industry lobbyist, the Environmental Protection Agency removed the chair of an expert peer review panel charged with setting safe exposure levels for a toxic fire retardant that contaminates human blood and breast milk, according to documents obtained by EWG.
Read MoreUnder pressure from chemical industry lobbyists, the Bush Administration fired the chair of an expert science panel at the Environmental Protection Agency that was evaluating the safety of a neurotoxic fire retardant, according to documents obtained by EWG. EPA is to issue by March 28th a reassessment of the human health risks from Deca, an industrial fire retardant used in electronics and other consumer products, and widely found in Americans’ blood and breast milk.
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EWG urged the California Air Resources Board to set strict, health-based standards for cleaning products, cosmetics and other consumer goods.
Read MoreA Critique of Community Briefings by The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection on the Hazards of Drinking Water Contaminated With C8 (perfluorooctanoic acid — PFOA)
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What will it take to get presidential candidates to commit to stopping human-caused global warming?
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Our friends at DeSmogBlog have an important e-petition for you to sign.
Read MoreBush again pushes 3 nominees seen as pro-industry LA Times. 1 Apr 2007 UPDATE 4/4/07: San Francisco Chronicle's Jon Carroll gives us a more satire-infused critique of Bush's [re]nominees. SF Chronicle. 4 Apr 2007.
Read MoreAfter the Environmental Working Group (EWG) revealed that contractor Sciences International (SI) worked for companies who made chemicals under review by the agency, NIH let the company conduct its own internal investigation into conflicts of interest.
Read MoreYesterday I pointed you to the newest EWG investigation exposing the dubious relationship between the Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR) — an agency under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health — and the consulting firm Sciences International (SI).
Read MoreBattery makers and lead smelters have been lobbying the Bush administration to roll back standards that keep lead out of gasoline and their efforts may prove successful for industry, that is. According to a statement released by the EPA earlier this week, the agency is considering dropping the lead limits in light of " the significantly changed circumstances since lead was listed in 1976" as an air pollutant.
Read MoreThe American Journal of Industrial Medicine reports this month on undisclosed conflicts of interest in cancer research: Some consulting firms employ university researchers for industry work thereby disguising industry links in the income of large departments. If the industry affiliation is concealed by the scientist, biases from conflicting interests in risk assessments cannot be evaluated and dealt with properly. Furthermore, there is reason to suspect that editors and journal staff may suppress publication of scientific results that are adverse to industry owing to internal conflict of interest between editorial integrity and business needs.
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