Smart discussion about toxics policy reform

Richard
Richard Wiles, Sr. VP for Policy and Communications

Richard Wiles co-founded Environmental Working Group with Ken Cook and now directs EWG's programs. He is a nationally recognized expert on children's environmental health, toxic substances and pesticide policies. Wiles is a former senior staff officer at the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Agriculture where he directed path-breaking studies on pesticide policy and organic agriculture. Two of these studies -- Regulating Pesticides: The Delaney Paradox and Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children -- formed the basis for the landmark federal Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, a sweeping reform of federal pesticide regulation. The act marked the first U.S. statutory mandate for explicit protection of infants and children from environmental contaminants. Wiles’ third report, Alternative Agriculture, was instrumental in creating momentum for federal organic food standards. Wiles holds a B.A. Degree from Colgate University and an M.A. degree from California State University at Sacramento. He is an avid skier and sailor

All Articles by Richard Wiles

Industry’s Call for TSCA Reform – No There There

Industry’s Call for TSCA Reform – No There There
Cal Dooley, new head of the chemical industry lobby group, the American Chemistry Council, seems to have pulled the industry’s head out of the proverbial sand.  Just a year ago the industry adamantly opposed changes to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  Now the industry actively supports “modernization” of...

Flame Retardants for Breakfast

Flame Retardants for Breakfast
It’s not like we needed more proof that our chemical regulatory system is completely broken.  But we have it anyway. It appears as though the food industry is starting to ship fresh produce on plastic pallets, each made with 3.5 pounds of pure decabromodiphenyl ether – Deca for short, the neurotoxic...

Is this EPA Serious about Chemical Regulation?

Is this EPA Serious about Chemical     Regulation?
The federal program to “assess and manage” industrial chemicals polluting the environment has never done either.  Instead of ChAMP (for Chemical Assessment and Management Program, Orwellian Newspeak if we ever heard it), it should have been named KERCHING — for the millions of dollars the...

Death by a Thousand Snapshots

Death by a Thousand Snapshots
Nothing scares the chemical industry like the facts.  That’s why big chemical companies are so afraid of biomonitoring. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, biomonitoring is the testing of blood, urine, breast milk, hair or other tissue for the presence of industrial chemicals and pollutants. What...

Winning on BPA? Not so fast.

Winning on BPA?   Not so fast.
It’s been quite a ride with the fight against the toxic plastics chemical bisphenol A (BPA)–  David vs. Goliath, public interest advocates and a handful of scientists pushing back against lobbyists and dealmakers, shady government contractors, bogus science,  backroom strategy sessions. The...

Toxic Teflon – Too Little, Too Late

Toxic Teflon – Too Little, Too Late
The unfolding debacle with toxic Teflon products is a great example of what happens when you wait too long to regulate a chemical. Teflon, a perflourinated compound (PFC) made by the DuPont company, and related PFCs are some of the most problematic substances ever allowed into widespread commercial use. But...