News Releases

Congresswoman Lois Capps today introduced legislation to protect Americans from perchlorate, a chemical contaminate that has seeped into underground water supplies and has recently been detected in agricultural products such as lettuce. The Preventing Perchlorate Pollution Act would accelerate the establishment of an EPA standard for perchlorate, and require the enhanced access to community "right to know" information about perchlorate contamination.

Lettuce grown in the fall and winter months in Southern California or Arizona may contain higher levels of toxic rocket fuel than is considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to independent laboratory tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG).

The Environmental Working Group today asked the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to ban the use of arsenic-treated wood in outdoor play structures and to order consumer refunds for millions of playsets nationwide, based on a new round of laboratory tests that found high levels of arsenic contamination even on older pressure-treated wooden structures.

Like other car companies, Ford has consistently fought mandatory increases in fuel economy for SUVs and other vehicles by invoking fears that higher mileage requirements would result in smaller, more dangerous vehicles.

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today introduced legislation to protect drinking water from contamination by the toxic chemical perchlorate.

A National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel, requested by the Bush Administration, will meet January 8-9, 2003 to begin its review of the ethics of chemical companies using humans in laboratory tests in order to loosen environmental safeguards on pesticides and other toxic chemicals.

On Dec. 10 the Environmental Working Group and the Environmental Law Foundation released the results of tests on water purchased from 274 Glacier vending machines in California. Analysis of the samples found that water from more than a third of the machines failed California standards for trihalomethanes (THMs) in vended water.

Statement by Brian McInerney, President and CEO of Glacier Water Services, Inc.

Residents of predominantly non-Anglo or poorer neighborhoods in California are much more likely to breathe harmful levels of airborne soot and dust than residents of more affluent or white neighborhoods, according to state and federal data analyzed by Environmental Working Group (EWG).