The Issue
Water
Many Americans’ drinking water contains contaminants, and bottled water makers don’t fully disclose the source or purity of their water. EWG is the place to go for information about your water.
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The Latest on Water
Three leading environmental groups say they’re hauling Chicago’s sewer system and the Environmental Protection Agency into court over the pollution that pours out of the city, down the Mississippi and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico, helping to grow the perennial “Dead Zone.”
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The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a nationwide plan to require water utilities to test drinking water for 28 contaminants currently unregulated by federal law, including six perfluorinated chemicals, a family of toxic industrial chemicals found widely in consumer products.
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Since 2006, Environmental Working Group has been building an email list of engaged consumers who sign up to get regular alerts about our latest research and practical tips to help them keep their families safe, healthy and informed.
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EWG urges California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to set a strict public health goal for hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6, a probable carcinogen, and move rapidly to establish an enforceable legal limit for the pollutant in drinking water.
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Testing by four municipal drinking water suppliers has confirmed the results of a study by the Environmental Working Group that detected widespread contamination by chromium-6, a suspected toxic carcinogen.
Read MorePerchlorate, a common ingredient in rocket fuel and a potent thyroid toxin, will finally be regulated in drinking water, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced today.
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EWG president Ken Cook testifies that ensuring safe, accessible drinking water is a core responsibility of the U.S. government.
Read MoreThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promised to help local water utilities address public concerns over the possible presence of hexavalent chromium (chromium-6) in drinking water, and today it delivered.
Read MoreOn Jan. 4, President Obama signed into law theReduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act. The law will reduce the amount of lead allowed in faucets and plumbing fixtures to a tiny fraction of the old limit - from 8 percent to 0.25 percent.
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Since 2005, Environmental Working Group (EWG) has been pushing the federal government and municipal water utilities to reduce the levels of fluoride in drinking water to protect children from tooth enamel damage ("dental fluorosis") and other potential health problems. Today those concerns have been heard. The nation's top health official, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced plans to lower the agency's maximum recommended fluoride level from 1.2 milligrams per liter of water to 0.7.
Read MoreFor years, California officials have been working to set the nation's first-ever safety standard for the carcinogenic metal hexavalent chromium (chromium-6), commonly found in the state's drinking water. Last week (Dec. 31), after specifically evaluating the pollutant’s threat to infants, public health officials sharply lowered their proposed “public health goal” to 0.02 parts per billion (ppb) of chromium-6 in drinking water.
Read MoreJust two days after the release of Environmental Working Group's (EWG) analysis of chromium-6 (hexavalent chromium) contamination in the drinking water of 31 U.S. cities, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a comprehensive plan to help local water utilities address the problem.
Read MoreBy Rebecca Sutton, PhD, EWG Senior Scientist
Read MoreMillions of Americans are drinking water contaminated with the carcinogenic chemical that came to national attention in the 2000 feature film Erin Brockovich. Laboratory tests commissioned by EWG found hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, in the drinking water of 31 of 35 selected U.S. cities. Among those with the highest levels were Norman, Okla.; Honolulu; and Riverside, Calif.
Read MoreLaboratory tests commissioned by EWG have detected hexavalent chromium, the carcinogenic “Erin Brockovich chemical,” in tap water from 31 of 35 American cities. The highest levels were in Norman, Okla.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, Calif. In all, water samples from 25 cities contained the toxic metal at concentrations above the safe maximum recently proposed by California regulators.
Read MoreEWG comments on EPA’s review of toxicological studies for hexavalent chromium say that there is no need to weaken the conclusions or delay issuing the document.
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For more than thirty years, contamination from high-intensity farming has been adding to the pollution that fouls Chesapeake Bay, one of America’s most storied waterways. A new report from the Environmental Working Group today (Dec 7) shows that weakly regulated agricultural practices in the six states of the Chesapeake watershed are overloading soils with phosphorus, a major reason the bay is in trouble.
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Everyone agrees: Chesapeake Bay is heavily polluted. Thirty years of promises, compromises, plans, schemes and a whole lot of taxpayer dollars have done little to clean up one of America's most storied watersheds. There’s plenty of blame to go around, and waste from urban sprawl is one factor. But the biggest threat to water quality in the Chesapeake is pollution from agriculture.
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