You are here: Fairness.com > Resources > Environmental Working Group (EWG)

Environmental Working Group (EWG)


Self Description

June 2004: "Environmental investigations have been our specialty at the Environmental Working Group since 1993.

Our team of scientists, engineers, policy experts, lawyers and computer programmers pores over government data, legal documents, scientific studies and our own laboratory tests to expose threats to your health and the environment, and to find solutions.

Our research brings to light unsettling facts that you have a right to know. It shames and shakes up polluters and their lobbyists. It rattles politicians and shapes policy. It persuades bureaucracies to rethink science and strengthen regulation. It provides practical information you can use to protect your family and community."

http://www.ewg.org/about/index.php

Third-Party Descriptions

December 2010: '“From a consumer perspective, you are very much in the dark in terms of what clothing is treated with,” said David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy organization. “In many ways, you’re in the hands of the industry and those who are manufacturing our clothing. And we are trusting them to ensure they are using the safest materials and additives.”'

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/your-money/11wrinkle.html

September 2009: "A little over a decade ago, environmental organizations such as the Environmental Working Group began to focus on phthalates and have been working ever since for tighter regulation or, in some cases, bans."

http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=627040

June 2008: "Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced a measure last month that would overhaul U.S. chemical regulation along the lines of the new European approach. It would require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to use biomonitoring studies to identify industrial chemicals present in umbilical cord blood and decide whether those chemicals should be restricted or banned. A study by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found an average of 200 industrial chemicals in the cord blood of newborns."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/11/AR2008061103569.html

January 2008: "Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, says that while he doesn’t believe conservation funds should be spent on industrial livestock farms, the money is a relatively small share of the EQIP total. He says that most of it is spent on valuable environmental initiatives."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/business/13feed.html

November 2007: I'm calling for prudence and prevention, not panic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Working Group have confirmed that American children are being born with dozens of chemicals in their bodies that did not exist just two decades earlier, including toxic flame retardants from fabrics. A new study by Barbara Cohn and other scientists at the Public Health Institute in Berkeley, Calif., finds that girls exposed to elevated levels of the pesticide DDT before age 14 are five times more likely to develop breast cancer when they reach middle age.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201648.html

May 2004: Though the FDA monitors conventional produce to ensure that pesticide levels aren't toxic, it's the cumulative effect of small amounts that concerns some people. In 2003 the Environmental Working Group compiled a list of 'dirty dozen' produce that retains the most pesticide residue according to FDA and USDA tests. You can see the list, which includes apples, strawberries and potatoes, at www.foodnews.org1.

http://smartmoney.com/10things/index.cfm?story=june2004

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Founded/Co-Founded by Kenneth "Ken" A. Cook MS Person Sep 7, 2006
Organization Executive (past or present) Heather White Esq. Person Jan 26, 2012
Organization Executive (past or present) Founded/Co-Founded by Richard Wiles Person Jan 25, 2008

Articles and Resources

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Apr 14, 2011 Red State Home Companion

QUOTE: In a multiple-prong attack on NPR, Republicans slashed funding for public broadcasting, then passed an additional “emergency” bill to prohibit independent stations from using federal grants to buy NPR programs... So why go after such a meager sum for public radio, when it means so much to the least-populated areas of America? Spite. Ideology.

 New York Times
Dec 10, 2010 When Wrinkle-Free Clothing Also Means Formaldehyde Fumes

QUOTE: some critics said more studies on a wider array of textiles and clothing chemicals were needed, including a closer look at the effects of cumulative exposure [to formaldehyde-Ed.]. At the very least, they said, better labeling would help.

 New York Times
Sep 05, 2009 In Toys and More, Are Chemicals Safe or Harmful? New law tightens use of phthalates, but industry says hazard isn't proven

QUOTE: Over the past few years, researchers have uncovered multiple health hazards, either in animal or human studies, linked to phthalates [chemical that is in many consumer products].

 HealthDay
Aug 27, 2009 Hold the sushi: Mercury in fish

QUOTE: Consumers are now trying to understand how the USGS [U.S. Geological Survey] study’s findings [on mercury in fish] should influence their eating habits.

 Economist
Aug 26, 2009 Meeting regulations costly for gas stations

QUOTE: A combination of environmental rules, mandatory equipment replacement, the down economy, increased competition from big-box stores and rising credit-card fees is putting the squeeze on independent gas station owners...

 USA TODAY
Jul 08, 2009 Quality of Bottled Water Questioned in Congress

QUOTE: members of Congress were briefed on two new studies that question whether bottled water is safer than water directly from the faucet.

 New York Times
Jan 24, 2009 EPA a failure on chemicals, audit finds: Assessment of toxic risks inadequate, says new chief (Chemical Fallout: Update)

QUOTE: The Environmental Protection Agency's ability to assess toxic chemicals is as broken as the nation's financial markets and needs a total overhaul, a congressional audit has found.

 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/JS Online
Jun 12, 2008 Chemical Law Has Global Impact: E.U.'s New Rules Forcing Changes By U.S. Firms

QUOTE: Europe this month rolled out new restrictions on makers of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems, changes that are forcing U.S. industries to find new ways to produce a wide range of everyday products.

 Washington Post
Jan 13, 2008 In the Farm Bill, a Creature From the Black Lagoon?

QUOTE: But you may be surprised to learn that your tax dollars have helped pave the way for the growth of these livestock megafarms by paying farmers to deal with the mountains of excrement that their farms generate. All of this is carried out under the rubric of “conservation.”

 New York Times
Nov 04, 2007 Off Target in the War on Cancer: An Ounce of Prevention

QUOTE: those who profit from the continued use of some risky technologies have devised well-financed efforts to sow doubt about many modern [cancer-related--Ed.] hazards, taking their cue from the machinations of the tobacco industry. The best crafted public relations campaigns masquerade as independent scientific information from unimpeachable authorities.

 Washington Post
Jul 13, 2005 Professor at Harvard Is Being Investigated: Fluoride-Cancer Link May Have Been Hidden

QUOTE: Federal investigators and Harvard University officials are probing whether a Harvard professor buried research suggesting a link between fluoridated tap water and bone cancer in adolescent boys.

 Washington Post
Oct 22, 2004 Buyout Alchemy: Tobacco Land Into Gold

QUOTE: ...raises the question of why 70 percent of the $10 billion buyout fund will go to the people who own the land and 30 percent to those who work it.

 Washington Post
Oct 03, 2004 The Promised Land: Bigotry and bankruptcy haven't driven Ricky Haynie from the fields his ancestors worked as slaves

QUOTE: ...scathing report charging that the USDA had paid $12 million in legal fees to thwart giving thousands of black farmers their settlement money. "Instead of processing claims as promised," the report states, "USDA used the full weight of the federal government against African American farmers it had already discriminated against."

 Washington Post
Aug 16, 2004 'Data Quality' Law Is Nemesis Of Regulation

QUOTE: The Data Quality Act...is just two sentences directing the OMB to ensure that all information disseminated by the federal government is reliable...interpretation of those two sentences could tip the balance in regulatory disputes that weigh the interests of consumers and businesses.

 Washington Post
Jun 17, 2004 EPA to Act Against DuPont for an Ingredient in Teflon

QUOTE: The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to take "formal action against DuPont soon" over allegations that the giant chemical company failed to report possible health problems connected with a key ingredient used in making Teflon.

 Washington Post
May 11, 2004 10 Things Your Health Food Store Won't Tell You

QUOTE: As the demand for organic products has grown, a number of other eco-labels that imply health or environmental purity have also proliferated. Their true meanings range from the application of standards stricter than the USDA's organic rule to kinda-sorta organic to anything but organic...

 Smart Money
Jan 01, 2002 Monsanto Hid Decades of Pollution: PCBs Drenched Ala. Town, but No One Was Ever Told

QUOTE: ...for nearly 40 years...Monsanto Co. routinely discharged toxic waste into a west Anniston creek and dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into oozing open-pit landfills...for decades, the corporate giant concealed what it did and what it knew.

 Washington Post
Dec 19, 2001 Farm Subsidy Web Site Sows Discord: Listing of Payment Details Raises Questions in Congress and Angers Recipients

QUOTE: Since its public debut on Nov. 6, a new Internet-accessible database that ranks farmers by name according to the amount of federal subsidies they receive has recorded 10.1 million searches.

 Washington Post