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For Immediate Release
May, 06 2010, 02:20pm EDT
Contact:
EWG Public Affairs: 202.667.6982
President's Cancer Panel Warns Public About Chemicals
EWG Finds 200 Suspected Carcinogens in Newborns
WASHINGTON
In a landmark report issued today, the President's Cancer Panel asserts that public health officials have
"grossly underestimated" the likelihood that environmental contaminants
trigger a large proportion of the cancers diagnosed in 1.5 million
Americans annually.
"The grievous harm from this group of carcinogens has not been addressed
adequately by the National Cancer Program," the Panel told President
Obama. "The American people -- even before they are born -- are bombarded
continually with myriad combinations of these dangerous exposures."
"The incidence of some cancers, including some most common among
children, is increasing for unexplained reasons," wrote the panel in the
Executive Summary of the report.
"There are far too many known and suspected cancer-causing chemicals in
products people, young and old, use every day of their lives," said
Kenneth A. Cook, president and co-founder of Environmental Working Group
(EWG). "Tests of umbilical cord blood are proof positive that American
children are being exposed hundreds of carcinogenic chemicals before
they are born. Many of these chemicals are believed to be time bombs,
altering the genetic-level switching mechanisms that lead to cancerous
cellular growth in later life."
In groundbreaking studies of cord blood in 2005 and 2009, EWG found a
total of 201 known and suspected carcinogens in 20 babies. In a series
of 11 research studies of the human body burden, from newborns to
elderly people, EWG has detected up to 493 chemicals in people.
"As this prestigious body's report underscores, the federal government
has failed to take aggressive action to protect people from chemicals
that cause cancer," Cook said. "The tide is shifting, thanks to
irrefutable scientific research and a strengthening of political will in
Washington."
The panel's findings are expected to intensify pressure on the chemical
industry and its allies in Congress to endorse toxic chemicals policy
reforms proposed in the Senate by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, and being
drafted in the House by Reps. Bobby Rush, D-IL, and Henry Waxman, D-CA.
Richard Wiles, EWG co-founder and Senior Vice President for Policy and
Communications, was one of the 47 experts who testified before the
panel. According to the report (p. 54), Wiles charged that EPA typically
compromises water pollution standards because making the environment
truly safe is too expensive. The agency, said Wiles, "allows a certain
amount of risk as a trade-off for cleaning up the water... I think our
public policies need to be revisited because we're trading disease for
costs probably unnecessarily."
"Consumers can't wait for the government to take action or for companies
to act responsibly by removing carcinogens from their products," Cook
said. "Today, EWG is issuing a number tips so that people can
immediately and dramatically reduce their exposure to cancer-causing
chemicals."
Preventing Cancer: Nine Practical Tips for Consumers
Four of every 10 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their
lifetimes, and two of every 10 will die of it. But there are some things
you can do to reduce the risk. First, talk to your doctor about
lifestyle changes that are known to make a difference -- stopping
smoking, reducing drinking, losing weight, exercising and eating right.
But according to a new report from the President's Cancer Panel,
environmental toxins also play a significant and under-recognized role
in cancer, causing "grievous harm" to untold numbers of people.
Environmental Working Group's own research has found that children are
born "pre-polluted" with up to 200 industrial chemicals, pesticides and
contaminants that have been found to cause cancer in lab studies or in
people.
Here are some simple things you can do to reduce your exposures:
1. Filter your tap water. Common carcinogens in tap water include
arsenic, chromium, and chemical byproducts that form when water is
disinfected. A simple carbon filter or pitcher can help reduce the
levels of these contaminants. If your water is polluted with arsenic or
chromium, a reverse osmosis filter will help. Learn about your tap water
and home water filters at EWG's National Tap Water Database. https://www.ewg.org/tap-water
2. Seal outdoor wooden decks and play sets. Those built before 2005 are
coated with an arsenic pesticide that can stick to hands and clothing.
Learn more at www.ewg.org/reports/allhandsondeck
3. Cut down on stain- and grease-proofing chemicals. "Fluorochemicals"
related to Teflon and Scotchgard are used in stain repellants on carpets
and couches and in greaseproof coatings for packaged and fast foods. To
avoid them, avoid greasy packaged foods and say no to optional stain
treatments in the home. Download EWG's Guide to PFCs here: https://www.ewg.org/Health-Tips
4. Stay safe in the sun. More than one million cases of skin cancer are
diagnosed in the United States each year. To protect your skin from the
sun's cancer-causing ultraviolet (UV) radiation, seek shade, wear
protective clothing and use a safe and effective sunscreen from EWG's
sunscreen database. https://www.ewg.org/whichsunscreensarebest/2009report
5. Cut down on fatty meat and high-fat dairy products. Long-lasting
cancer-causing pollutants like dioxins and PCBs accumulate in the food
chain and concentrate in animal fat.
6. Eat EWG's Clean 15. Many pesticides have been linked to cancer.
Eating from EWG's Clean 15 list of the least contaminated fruits and
vegetables will help cut your pesticide exposures. (And for EWG's Dirty
Dozen, buy organic.) Learn more at EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides. https://www.foodnews.org
7. Cut your exposures to BPA. Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a synthetic estrogen
found in some hard plastic water bottles, canned infant formula, and
canned foods. It may increase the risk of reproductive system cancers.
To avoid it, eat fewer canned foods, breast feed your baby or use
powdered formula, and choose water bottles free of BPA. (More athttps://www.ewg.org/bpa/tipstoavoidbpa)
8. Avoid carcinogens in cosmetics. Use EWG's Skin Deep cosmetic database
(www.cosmeticdatabase.com)
to find products free of chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer.
When you're shopping, don't buy products that list ingredients with
"PEG" or "-eth" in their name.
9. Read the warnings. Some products list warnings of cancer risks -- read
the label before you buy. Californians will see a "Proposition 65"
warning label on products that contain chemicals the state has
identified as cancer-causing.
The Environmental Working Group is a community 30 million strong, working to protect our environmental health by changing industry standards.
(202) 667-6982LATEST NEWS
Amnesty Blasts Israeli Death Penalty Bill as 'Institutionalized Discrimination Against Palestinians'
A leader at the human rights group called the proposal "a dangerous and dramatic step backwards and a product of ongoing impunity for Israel’s system of apartheid and its genocide in Gaza."
Nov 11, 2025
As Israel continues its "silent genocide" in the Gaza Strip one month into a supposed ceasefire with Hamas and Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank hit a record high, Amnesty International on Tuesday ripped the advancement of a death penalty bill championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Israel's 120-member Knesset "on Monday evening voted 39-16 in favor of the first reading of a controversial government-backed bill sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech," the Times of Israel reported. "Two other death penalty bills, sponsored by Likud MK Nissim Vaturi and Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer, also passed their first readings 36-15 and 37-14."
Son Har-Melech's bill—which must pass two more readings to become law—would require courts to impose the death penalty on "a person who caused the death of an Israeli citizen deliberately or through indifference, from a motive of racism or hostility against a population, and with the aim of harming the state of Israel and the national revival of the Jewish people in its land."
Both Hamas—which Israel considers a terrorist organization—and the Palestine Liberation Organization slammed the bill, with Palestinian National Council Speaker Rawhi Fattouh calling it "a political, legal, and humanitarian crime," according to Reuters.
Amnesty International's senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas, said in a statement that "there is no sugarcoating this; a majority of 39 Israeli Knesset members approved in a first reading a bill that effectively mandates courts to impose the death penalty exclusively against Palestinians."
Amnesty opposes the death penalty under all circumstances and tracks such killings annually. The international human rights group has also forcefully spoken out against Israeli abuse of Palestinians, including the genocide in Gaza that has killed over 69,182 people as of Tuesday—the official tally from local health officials that experts warn is likely a significant undercount.
"The international community must exert maximum pressure on the Israeli government to immediately scrap this bill and dismantle all laws and practices that contribute to the system of apartheid against Palestinians."
“Knesset members should be working to abolish the death penalty, not broadening its application," Guevara Rosas argued. "The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment, and an irreversible denial of the right to life. It should not be imposed in any circumstances, let alone weaponized as a blatantly discriminatory tool of state-sanctioned killing, domination, and oppression. Its mandatory imposition and retroactive application would violate clear prohibitions set out under international human rights law and standards on the use of this punishment."
"The shift towards requiring courts to impose the death penalty against Palestinians is a dangerous and dramatic step backwards and a product of ongoing impunity for Israel's system of apartheid and its genocide in Gaza," she continued. "It did not occur in a vacuum. It comes in the context of a drastic increase in the number of unlawful killings of Palestinians, including acts that amount to extrajudicial executions, over the last decade, and a horrific rise of deaths in custody of Palestinians since October 2023."
Guevara Rosas noted that "not only have such acts been greeted with near-total impunity but with legitimacy and support and, at times, glorification. It also comes amidst a climate of incitement to violence against Palestinians as evidenced by the surge in state-backed settler attacks in the occupied West Bank."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the devastating assault on Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, Israeli soldiers and settlers have also killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Netanyahu is now wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and Israel faces an ongoing genocide case at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ separately said last year that Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is unlawful and must end; the Israeli government has shown no sign of accepting that.
The Amnesty campaigner said Tuesday that "it is additionally concerning that the law authorizes military courts to impose death sentences on civilians, that cannot be commuted, particularly given the unfair nature of the trials held by these courts, which have a conviction rate of over 99% for Palestinian defendants."
As CNN reported Monday:
The UN has previously condemned Israel's military courts in the occupied West Bank, saying that "Palestinians' right to due process guarantees have been violated" for decades, and denounced "the lack of fair trial in the occupied West Bank."
UN experts said last year that, "in the occupied West Bank, the functions of police, investigator, prosecutor, and judge are vested in the same hierarchical institution—the Israeli military."
Pointing to the hanging of Nazi official and Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann, Guevara Rosas highlighted that "on paper, Israeli law has traditionally restricted the use of the death penalty for exceptional crimes, like genocide and crimes against humanity, and the last court-ordered execution was carried out in 1962."
"The bill's stipulation that courts should impose the death penalty on individuals convicted of nationally motivated murder with the intent of 'harming the state of Israel or the rebirth of the Jewish people' is yet another blatant manifestation of Israel's institutionalized discrimination against Palestinians, a key pillar of Israel’s apartheid system, in law and in practice," she asserted.
"The international community must exert maximum pressure on the Israeli government to immediately scrap this bill and dismantle all laws and practices that contribute to the system of apartheid against Palestinians," she added. "Israeli authorities must ensure Palestinian prisoners and detainees are treated in line with international law, including the prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment, and are provided with fair trial guarantees. They must also take concrete steps towards abolishing the death penalty for all crimes and all people."
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Kansas Editor Hopes $3 Million Payout for Police Raids Stops Future Attacks on Press
"In our democracy, the press is a watchdog against abuse," said Marion County Record publisher Eric Meyer. "If the watchdog itself is the target of abuse, and all it does is roll over, democracy suffers.”
Nov 11, 2025
A Kansas county has agreed to pay $3 million over 2023 police raids of a local newspaper and multiple homes—one of which belonged to its elderly publisher, whose death shortly followed—sparking nationwide alarm over increasing attacks on the free press.
Marion County agreed to pay the seven-figure settlement and issue a formal apology to the publishers of the Marion County Record admitting that wrongdoing had occurred during the August 11, 2023 raids on the paper's newsroom and two homes.
The apology states that the Marion County Sheriff's Office "wishes to express its sincere regrets to Eric and Joan Meyer and Ruth and Ronald Herbel for its participation in the drafting and execution of the Marion Police Department’s search warrants on their homes and the Marion County Record. This likely would not have happened if established law had been reviewed and applied prior to the execution of the warrant."
Bernie Rhodes, an attorney for the Record, told the paper, "This is a first step—but a big step—in making sure that Joan Meyer’s death served a purpose, in making sure that the next crazed cop who thinks they can raid a newsroom understands the consequences are measured in millions of dollars."
Rhodes was referring to the 98-year-old Record co-owner, who was reportedly in good health for her age, but collapsed and died at her home in the immediate aftermath of the raid by Marion police and country sheriff's deputies.
"This is a first step—but a big step—in making sure that Joan Meyer’s death served a purpose."
Eric Meyer, Joan Meyer's son and the current publisher of the Record, said: “The admission of wrongdoing is the most important part. In our democracy, the press is a watchdog against abuse. If the watchdog itself is the target of abuse, and all it does is roll over, democracy suffers.”
According to the Record, awards include:
- $200,000 to Eric Meyer, whose home was raided and two computers and a cellphone seized;
- $250,000 to reporter Deb Gruver, whose cell phone was seized;
- $300,000 to the Record;
- $600,000 to reporter Phyllis Zorn, whose cell phone was seized;
- $650,000 to former vice mayor Ruth Herbel, whose computer and cell phone were seized, and her husband, Ron, whose dementia was aggravated by the raid on their home; and
- $1 million to the estate of Joan Meyer.
Record business manager Cheri Bentz—who suffered aggravation of health conditions following one of the raids—previously settled with the county for $50,000.
Katherine Jacobsen, the US, Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, hailed the settlement as "an important win for press freedom amid a growing trend of hostility toward those who hold power to account."
"Journalists must be able to work freely and without fear of having their homes raided and equipment seized due to the overreach of authorities," she added.
The raids—during which police seized the Record‘s electronic equipment, work product, and documentary materials—were conducted with search warrants related to an alleged identity theft investigation.
However, critics—who have called the warrants falsified and invalid—noted that the raids came as the Record investigated sexual misconduct allegations against then-Marion Police Chief Police Gideon Cody. The raids, they say, were motivated by Cody's desire to silence the paper's unfavorable reporting about him.
State District Judge Ryan Rosauer ruled last month that Cody likely committed a felony crime when he instructed a witness with whom he allegedly had an improper romantic relationship to delete text messages they exchanged before, during, and after the raids.
While Cody will not be tried in connection with Meyer's death or the 2023 raids, Rosauer ordered him to stand trial over the deleted texts.
Meyer at the time expressed dismay that Cody wasn't being tried for his mother's death or the raids. He also worried that Cody was being made a scapegoat, as other people and law enforcement agencies were involved in the incident.
Following the announcement of the settlement, Meyer said that "this never has been about money, the key issue always has been that no one is above the law."
"No one can trample on the First and Fourth Amendments for personal or political purposes and get away with it," he continued. "When my mother warned officers that the stress they were putting her under might lead to her death, she called what they were doing Hitler tactics."
"What keeps our democracy from descending as Germany did before World War II is the courage she demonstrated—and we’ve tried to continue—in fighting back," Meyer added.
"This never has been about money, the key issue always has been that no one is above the law."
Five consolidated federal civil rights lawsuits have been filed in the US District Court for the District of Kansas, alleging wrongful death, unlawful searches, retaliation for protected speech, and other claims tied to the raids.
“It’s a shame additional criminal charges aren’t possible,” Meyer said, “but the federal civil cases will do everything they can to discourage future abuses of power.”
Although unable to savor the Record's victory, Joan Meyer presciently told the officers raiding her home, "Boy, are you going to be in trouble."
“She was so right," said Rhodes.
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GOP NYC Councilwoman Openly Dares Mamdani to Arrest Netanyahu With New Year's Invite
Despite Mamdani's campaign pledge, legal experts have consistently cast doubt on a New York City mayor's authority to order the arrest of a foreign leader.
Nov 11, 2025
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani may have a chance to fulfill one of his campaign promises on his first day of office, although legal experts have repeatedly cast doubt on his power to make it happen.
Republican New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov on Tuesday sent a formal invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak in New York City on January 1, 2026, while at the same time daring Mamdani to keep his pledge to have him arrested on war crimes charges.
"On January 1, Mamdani will take office," Vernikov wrote in a post on X. "And also on January 1, I look forward to welcoming Bibi to New York City. NY will always stand with Israel, and no radical Marxists with a title can change that."
The International Criminal Court (ICC) last year issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel's war in Gaza that has killed at least 69,000 Palestinians.
During his successful mayoral campaign, Mamdani repeatedly said that he would enforce the warrant against Netanyahu should the Israeli leader set foot in his city.
Although Mamdani backed off some of his most strident past statements during the campaign, particularly when it comes to the New York Police Department (NYPD), he doubled down on arresting Netanyahu during a September interview with The New York Times.
"This is a moment where we cannot look to the federal government for leadership," Mamdani told the paper. "This is a moment when cities and states will have to demonstrate what it actually looks like to stand up for our own values, our own people."
However, legal experts who spoke with the Times cast doubt on Mamdani's authority as the mayor of a major American city to arrest a foreign head of government, even if the person in question has been indicted by the ICC.
Among other things, experts said that the NYPD does not have jurisdiction to arrest Netanyahu on international war crimes charges, and the Israeli leader would have to commit some crime in violation of local state or city laws to justify such an action.
Additionally, the US has never been party to the ICC and does not recognize its legal authority.
Matthew Waxman, a professor at Columbia Law School, told the Times that Mamdani's stated determination to arrest Netanyahu was "more a political stunt than a serious law-enforcement policy."
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