Successes

Under pressure from EWG and other advocates, EPA and three chemical companies agreed to end production, importation and use of decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca), a neurotoxic and possibly carcinogen chemical, by the end of 2013. Deca, commonly added to consumer electronics, furniture, textiles and plastic shipping pallets, is biopersistent and presents particular dangers to children. EWG supports a...

Key Issues, Toxics, Health Concerns:

Toxics

Fire Retardants

Fighting for safer tap water

December, 2010

For the first time, EWG partnered with the New York Times to assemble and analyze water-testing data for 48,000 U.S. communities for a Times series called Toxic Waters. EWG compiled 20 million tap water quality tests performed by water utilities between 2004 and 2009. The EWG report, which generated dozens of media reports and hundreds of blogs, found that some drinking water supplies, while...

Key Issues, Toxics, Health Concerns:

Water

Tap Water

Obama administration promises toxic chemical reform

October, 2010

The Obama administration made a major public commitment to reform of the nation's outdated toxics chemicals law. At a historic conference to explore fundamental changes to U.S. chemical policy, hosted by EWG, Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, pledged to work for "comprehensive reform" with "special consideration for exposures and effects on groups with higher...

Key Issues, Toxics, Health Concerns:

Toxics

Chemical Policy

Shedding light on secret chemicals

January, 2010

EWG's ground-breaking report, Off the Books, documented that a loophole in the toxics control law has permitted industry to keep secret more than 17,000 chemicals. The report prompted a front-page story in the Washington Post and spurred the Environmental Protection Agency to begin denying some confidentiality claims. Regulators in 13 states asked Congress to crack down on excessive secrecy. EWG...

Key Issues, Toxics, Health Concerns:

Toxics

Protecting ground water from gas-drilling chemicals

January, 2010

EWG's report, Drilling Around the Law, by energy analyst Horwitt, disclosed that companies drilling for natural gas and oil with high-volumne hydraulic fracturing were injecting toxic petroleum distillates into thousands of wells, skirting federal law and threatening drinking water supplies from New York to Wyoming. The report sparked Congressional investigations.

Key Issues, Toxics, Health Concerns:

Energy

Fracking

Making American energy policy that makes sense

October, 2009

EWG analyses such as Crying Wolf: Climate Change Will Cost Farmers Far More Than a Climate Bill , Ethanol's Federal Subsidy Grab Leaves Little For Solar, Wind And Geothermal Energy and America Needs a True Renewable Energy Policy, changed the national conversation about corn ethanol by underscoring the false promises of conventional biofuels as a solution for climate change and energy...

Key Issues, Toxics, Health Concerns:

Highlighting cell phone radiation risks

September, 2009

EWG's first-ever guide to cell phone radiation, released September 9, 2009, went viral through the blogosphere in a matter of hours, logging more than 1.5 million visitors in its first month online and setting new EWG records for sign-ups and commentary. The Federal Communications Commission embraced major aspects of EWG's recommendations on cell phone safety.

Key Issues, Toxics, Health Concerns:

Consumer Products

Cell Phones

Protecting national treasures from mining

June, 2009

After EWG exposed a surge in uranium and other mining claims near the Grand Canyon, Congress invoked its rarely-used emergency authority to ban mining on more than 1 million acres around the canyon, but the Bush administration defied the legally bindng resolution.

Key Issues, Toxics, Health Concerns:

Energy

Mining

Banning BPA

March, 2009

Major baby bottle manufacturers agreed to stop using plastic containing bisphenol A, the toxic hormone-disrupting chemical. Lawmakers in Minnesota, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington state, Suffolk County, NY, and Chicago voted to ban BPA in food packaging for babies and young children. The California Assembly voted 35 to 31 for a similar ban, falling just short of 41 votes needed for passage...

Key Issues, Toxics, Health Concerns:

Toxics