EWG's Experts

Alexis Temkin
Toxicologist
Washington, D.C.

Areas of Expertise

  • Chemicals in consumer products
  • Glyphosate
  • Pesticides
  • PFAS
  • Tap water

Press Contact

To schedule an interview with Alexis Temkin, contact:

Education

  • Ph.D., Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina
  • B.A., Biological Sciences, Connecticut College

About

Alexis Temkin supports EWG’s consumer databases, policy and research in the areas of personal care and cleaning products, pesticides and tap water. Temkin began her research career at Columbia University Medical Center, working as a lab technician studying the molecular mechanisms responsible for environmental influence on gene regulation. As a doctoral student, she studied how exposure to environmental chemicals during development can influence adult obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Videos

In the News

“There are levels above what we could consider safe in very popular breakfast foods.”
- Alexis Temkin
“Report Finds Traces of a Controversial Herbicide in Cheerios and Quaker Oats”
By Mihir Zaveri
August 15, 2018
"What we do know is that people don't want to have pesticides or herbicides in their foods, and families really shouldn't have to make a healthy choice that also comes with an additional risk.”
- Alexis Temkin
“Unsafe levels of a weed killer chemical in oat products, report says”
By Susan Scutti
August 15, 2018
“Millions of Americans are being involuntarily exposed to nitrate, and they are also the ones paying the heavy costs of treating contaminated tap water. But the federal government is not doing enough to protect Americans from tap water contamination.”
- Alexis Temkin
“Study: Nitrate pollution in U.S. drinking water could lead to thousands of cancer cases”
By Brian Pascus
June 11, 2019
“We definitely acknowledge and support that everybody should be eating healthy fruits and vegetables as part of their diet regardless of if they’re conventional or organic. But what we try to highlight with the Shopper’s Guide to Produce is building on a body of evidence that shows mixtures of pesticides can have adverse effects.”
- Alexis Temkin
“Pesticide residues found in 70% of produce sold in US even after washing”
By Emily Holden
March 20, 2019
“The majority of water systems in the U.S. get a passing grade from the U.S. government. [But] legal doesn't necessarily mean safe.”
- Alexis Temkin
“Millions of Americans Are Drinking Water That Is Contaminated Yet Legal: Environmental Working Group Analysis”
By Daniel Moritz-Rabson
October 23, 2019
“We think EPA’s finding is not accurate and makes the rest of the risk assessment hard to interpret.”
- Alexis Temkin
“EPA: Glyphosate, the Herbicide in Roundup, Does Not Cause Cancer”
By Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder
April 30, 2019
“What we’re beginning to learn with more scientific evidence on PFAS is that PFAS can virtually impact every system in the body. You can definitely see it all over the nation, so it’s definitely a national issue.”
- Alexis Temkin
“Forever chemicals are in drinking water nationwide. So why aren't states taking action?”
By Joce Sterman and Alex Brauer
July 31, 2019
“When you look at what the federal standards are, those are often too high to protect against public health because they’re a compromise between cost of removal and technology, feasibility of removal and things like that.”
- Alexis Temkin
“Nonprofit releases new data on Delaware’s tap water quality”
By Sarah Mueller
October 23, 2019

EWG Publications

Nitrate in U.S. Tap Water May Cause More Than 12,500 Cancers a Year
June 11, 2019
Applying a cumulative risk framework to drinking water assessment: a commentary
April 30, 2019
Just Released: EWG’s 2019 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™
March 20, 2019
More Than Half of Kale Samples Tainted by Possibly Cancer-Causing Pesticide
March 20, 2019
Glyphosate Contamination in Food Goes Far Beyond Oat Products
February 28, 2019
Eating an Organic Diet May Reduce Your Cancer Risk
November 9, 2018
Breakfast With a Dose of Roundup? Weed Killer in $289 Million Cancer Verdict Found in Oat Cereal and Granola Bars
August 15, 2018
Federal Study: Replacements for Hormone-Disrupting BPA May Be Just as Bad
November 15, 2017
Researchers Link Kids’ Weight Gain to Chemical Exposures
November 30, 2017

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