Toxics
Industry doesn’t have to test chemicals for safety before they go on the market. EWG steps in where government leaves off, giving you the resources to protect yourself and your family.
Not content to pander to the cosmetics industry by requiring no safety testing on American personal care products, the Bush administration is now working to thwart Europe’s attempts at improving product safety. Government correspondence uncovered by staff of the House Committee on Government Reform shows that the administration mixed with the American Chemistry Council (ACC) for a lobbying campaign to cripple Europe’s new laws, the Oakland Tribune reports.
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The Oakland Tribune devoted three days and thousands of words to telling the story of one local family's exposure to toxic chemicals. The paper's superb series presents a new and updated take on the pollution in people pioneered by the Environmental Working Group's ground breaking 2003 report, Body Burden, which tested the blood of nine Americans for more than 200 contaminants. EWG staff advised reporter Douglas Fischer on what to test for, where to test it, and what the results mean.
Read MoreDuPont Corp. has agreed to pay a settlement of over $100 million to residents of Parkersburg, WV, after knowingly contaminating their drinking water with PFOA, a toxic chemical used to make Teflon.
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In the wake of the W.R. Grace indictment for asbestos poisoning in Libby, Mont., Australian building products company James Hardie Industries is working hard to make sure it escapes responsibility for asbestos building products and brake linings it exported to the U.S. from the 1960s to the 1980s.
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New tests by Toronto's Globe and Mail and CTV News show some of the world's highest levels of chemical fire retardants in common Canadian foods.
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The Washington Post reports that half the fish consumed worldwide will be farm-raised instead of wild-caught by the year 2025, exposing Americans to more fish with plenty of healthy omega-3s and dangerous levels of toxic PCBs.
Read MoreResearchers at the University of Missouri have discovered a possible link between asbestos and autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Read MoreEWG today criticized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft risk assessment on the toxic Teflon chemical, PFOA, as a post-election tilt toward DuPont. The Agency ignored its own science panel's guidance and internal industry research with today's assessment of the human health risks from the Teflon chemical. (Read EWG analysis)
Read MoreDespite Teflon maker DuPont's longstanding claim that there are 'no known health effects' associated with its Teflon chemical PFOA, the company today announced that in a recently-completed worker study it found that PFOA exposures among Teflon plant workers were correlated with a 10 per cent increase in cholesterol.
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The Children's Environmental Exposure Research Study, or CHEERS study would measure pesticide and chemical levels in 60 Florida children who would be selected for the study based on heavy pesticide use in their homes.
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An investigation by the Riverside Press Enterprise documents how industries that make and use the rocket fuel chemical perchlorate have worked to undermine sound science on its health effects -- even rewriting an article in a federally funded journal. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen Dianne Feinstein says widespread contamination of water and food makes a national rocket fuel safety standard an urgent need.
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The Washington Post reports that a toxic chemical component of rocket fuel, in concentrations 80 times what the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for human consumption, has been found near a reservoir that supplies drinking water to the District of Columbia.
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According to news reports, Teflon maker DuPont reported earning $331 million in the third quarter this year. That amount will just cover the possible $313 million fine it faces for illegally hiding from the EPA studies finding that their Teflon chemical moves from mother's blood to baby and that it had polluted drinking water supplies used by thousands of Ohioans and West Virginians.
Read MoreA new analysis of Department of Energy (DOE) figures shows that in the wake of the 2002 Senate vote to approve the Yucca Mountain dumpsite, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission quickly and quietly approved license extensions at nuclear reactors nationwide.
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According to the Los Angeles Times, when confronted with criticism about the number of pollution lawsuits that EPA has filed during his tenure, EPA's Acting Enforcement Chief Tom Skinner asserted that EPA is actively pursuing settlements with polluters rather than lawsuits to punish violations of environmental laws.
Read MoreA new study finds chemical flame retardants known as PBDEs contaminate common foods available on supermarket shelves. The study appears in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology and provides possible evidence that food may be a primary source of the flame retardant contamination found in humans.
Read MoreA study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology shows that farmed salmon accumulates higher levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) a chemical flame retardant used in furniture and electrical equipment. Some types of flame retardants have been banned in Europe and California because of health concerns.
Read MoreRefineries, power plants and other large industrial facilities in California that violate clean air laws typically pay penalties lower than what an SUV driver may legally be fined for a smog violation, according to an investigation of enforcement records by Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Read MoreIn an extraordinary announcement on July 8, 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency revealed the results of a year-long investigation into DuPont's failure to disclose to the agency internal company studies showing pollution of human fetal cord blood and local tap water with a toxic Teflon ingredient, known as C8 or PFOA. Acting on a petition filed by the Environmental Working Group, the Agency found that DuPont engaged in unlawful behavior on three separate counts of hiding critical study results in company file cabinets for up to 20 years.
Read MoreThe Baltimore Sun recently reported the toxic gasoline additive MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) has been found leaking into drinking water in nearby county wells, adding Harford County's Fallston area to the growing list of communities whose water supplies have been polluted by MTBE. More than 20 families are suing Exxon Mobil Corp. over the foul-smelling toxin which leaked into wells serving 84 homes, allegedly from an underground storage tank at a nearby Exxon station.
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