Testimony & Official Correspondence

EWG is a non-profit public health watchdog organization. We are writing to alert you that a current Society of Toxicology (SOT) member, Dr. Dennis Paustenbach, has committed a serious violation of the Society's Code of Ethics, and to strongly urge the Society to censure Dr. Paustenbach or take other decisive and appropriate disciplinary action. The Society must make clear that it will not tolerate unethical activity by its members, or risk seriously damaging its credibility.

Key Issues: 

Chromium-6

Water

Tap Water

In December, EWG outlined the environmental consulting firm ChemRisk's violated the ethical standards of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM) with their activities surrounding the 1997 paper, "Cancer mortality in a Chinese population exposed to hexavalent chromium in water." We urged JOEM to review the allegations we presented in our letter, alert the scientific community of the ethical breaches, retract the fraudulent article, and ban the scientists involved from publishing in your journal.

Key Issues: 

Chromium-6

EWG commends the professional staff and leadership at EPA for forging a stewardship agreement with major companies that will, if properly implemented, dramatically reduce, and eventually eliminate, pollution associated with the chemical known as PFOA, and related chemicals that break down to become PFOA and similar substances. These toxic chemicals pose numerous health risks, are extraordinarily persistent in the environment, and have already found their way into the blood of people worldwide, including most Americans.

Key Issues: 

Toxics

Chemical Policy

Nonstick Chemicals

Cookware

Food Containers

Ken Cook and Chris Campbell [1]
June 9, 2005

U.S. taxpayers provided $264 million in 2004 to a handful of agribusiness firms through an obscure but controversial cotton subsidy program at the center of a fierce global debate over agricultural subsidies—a debate that has paralyzed international trade negotiations for the past three years. One company alone, Allenberg Cotton of Cordova, Tennessee, received almost $35 million through the program last year, and has collected more than $186 million since 1995.

Key Issues: 

Subsidies