Consumer Products

Toxic PFAS chemicals, notorious for contaminating drinking water supplies across the U.S., are harmful to nearly every human organ, and the immune system is particularly vulnerable. PFAS mixtures, which are used in a variety of consumer products, can be found in the bodies of nearly every American and in the developing fetus.

On Tuesday, bipartisan legislation to protect Californians, especially children, from jewelry tainted with highly toxic heavy metals sailed through a key committee.

EWG has submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency urging the EPA to include a 10-fold Food Quality Protection Act children’s health safety factor for the triclosan human health assessment and to consider all routes of exposure from all potential sources for triclosan in the final assessment for this antimicrobial chemical.

EWG has submitted a petition to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requesting that biomonitoring of the American public include tests for common sunscreen ingredients. Research conducted by the Food and Drug Administration found that four common sunscreen ingredients absorbed through the skin in amounts that require additional safety consideration. For this reason, biomonitoring for sunscreen chemicals is essential for protecting public health.

California lawmakers passed a measure Wednesday to safeguard workers and their families from the toxic effects of lead exposure, following revelations that state officials failed to investigate hundreds of cases of lead-poisoned workers.  

Environmental Working Group has filed a public records request seeking internal records that could help shed light on the EPA’s decision to jettison funding for a network of research centers that focus on the risks to children of toxic chemicals and industrial pollution.

EWG board member Michelle Pfeiffer met with federal lawmakers today to urge them to support bipartisan legislation to reform a woefully outdated law governing the cosmetics industry. 

Today EWG released its 13th Annual Guide to Sunscreens, which rates the safety and efficacy of more than 1300 SPF products, including sunscreens, daily moisturizers and lip balms with SPF values. EWG researchers found that two-thirds of sunscreen products still offer inferior sun protection or contain worrisome ingredients, like oxybenzone.

Top political appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency ignored calls by agency scientists and lawyers to implement an outright ban of asbestos, according to internal memos obtained by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization. The memos and the EPA’s actions were reported today by The New York Times.