Everyone knows about the Oscars, but have you heard about The Toxies? This Wednesday, March 3 at 11 am, the first-ever red carpet awards ceremony for “Bad Actor” chemicals will take place at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Bad Actor chemicals include some of the most toxic compounds known. Despite the health risks from these
Sewage sludge is the mucky residue of municipal wastewater treatment operations, consisting largely of human feces. Repackaged as “biosolids,” sludge is sold or given away to farmers and homeowners for use as a nutrient-rich fertilizer. But when used to grow food, our turds may bite back: sludge can contain heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, toxic chemicals, disease-causing
Take a close look at the fine print on a can of Raid, a bottle of Cutters, a jug of RoundUp, or virtually any pesticide on the market today, and you’ll see these words: “Inert ingredients.” Inert ingredients are the pesticide industry’s best-kept secret. The Bad News There are thousands of chemicals used as inerts
In our ongoing series “There’s WHAT in My Food?”, we submit for your reading pleasure (though probably not while you’re eating) our comments on a stunning New York Times investigation that exposed how an ammonia-treated beef filler used in 50% of the nation’s ground beef (possibly up to 80%, according to one industry source) has
Last April, CEH announced finding high levels of lead in dozens of purses and handbags sold at several major retailers, including Target, Macy’s, WalMart and many others. Last week, a landmark legal agreement with four major companies established, for the first time, limits to end lead threats to women from purses, handbags, clutches and wallets.
No, it’s not the title of an unpublished Dr. Seuss book. According to the Good Guide, the hottest toy of the holiday shopping season, the Zhu Zhu, may have illegal levels of antimony, a chemical linked to headaches, nausea, wheezing, and damage to the kidneys, liver, and heart. But the company that makes the toy
If you’re not a chemical policy nut, you likely missed new US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Lisa Jackson’s speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco last month. Which is a shame, because it called for a landmark shift in environmental health policy: the EPA’s return to its mandate. It was a welcome message. For eight
Urban legends of harmful products in Halloween candy and fruit have caused parents to greet Halloween suspiciously. However, a hidden threat is real in some of the candy on the shelves today – lead and GMO’s. With Halloween coming, every parent wonders what sugary treats their kids will find in their trick-or-treat bags. But did
Recently, CEH was asked for our take on safer materials for cookware and other kitchen items. To respond, we compiled information from a wide range of sources– but as with many consumer products, we found that for the most part, there have been few or no independent studies on most types of kitchenware, and even
Generation Green asks the FTC to Investigate WASHINGTON – Generation Green today called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the misleading marketing campaign being conducted by Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Nutritionals LLC for its artificial sweetener, Splenda. McNeil is intentionally misleading and confusing consumers into believing that Splenda is natural by repeatedly using