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Environmental Working Group
Environmental Working Group is an American environmental organization which uses the power of public information to protect public health and the environment. It specializes in research and advocacy in the areas such as agricultural subsidies, corporate accountability, toxic chemicals and public lands. It was first founded in 1993 by Ken Cook and Richard Wiles in Washington DC. In 2002, Environmental Working Group Action Fun was founded to advocate on Capitol Hill for health-protective and subsidy-shifting policies. Their first goal is to protect the most vulnerable segments of the human population, such as children, babies and infants in the womb from the health problems that are caused by toxic contaminants. Their second goal is to replace federal policies such as government subsidies that damage the environment and natural resources with policies that invest in conservation and sustainable development. In order to make a better environment in America, they research unsettling facts that all Americans should know. They try to shape policies the right way and persuade bureaucracies to rethink science and strengthen regulations. Most importantly, the Environmental Working Group provides practical information that every American should know to protect their families and communities.
The biggest focus that EWG has currently is on the reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The Toxic Substances Control Act declared about 62,000 chemicals safe already on the market. Moreover, another 20,000 chemicals have been put into commercial circulation the United States without little or no data to support their safety. Therefore, EWG is trying their best to pass the Kid-Safe Chemical Act, which requires that industrial chemicals be safe for infants, kids and other vulnerable segments of the human population. Recently, EWG has created a cosmetic safety database that indexes and scores products based on their ingredients. Also, their guide to pesticides in produce lists 44 fruits and vegetables that contain pesticides according to United States Department of Agriculture data. Moreover, they also constructed a national database of tap water testing results from public water utilities. As you can see, EWG is trying very hard to protect the world from toxic chemicals to protect human health.
The EWG focuses on many projects that include the cell phone radiation report, skin deep and the 2007 Farm Bill. EWG has recently launched a cell phone radiation report to show high risk of brain and salivary gland tumors among heavy cell phone users. Moreover, there are many studies that are going on to see the long term effects of cell phone radiation. EWG is encouraging individuals to look up their cell phones' radiation level and try to wear a headset when talking on the phone. The Skin Deep project is a cosmetic safety database that pairs ingredients in over 41,000 products against 50 toxicity and regulatory databases. The consumers of products can search the ingredients or products when choosing personal care products. The 2007 Farm Bill advocates for funding to be increased for nutrition and conservation, wasteful spending to be cut to profitable large farm operations, hobby farmers, and absentee landlords, and an increase in support to organic agriculture. With so many projects being implemented, hopefully the EWG will continue to find ways to protect humans from health-related issues due to our environment.
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