FDA Panel Reviews Decision to Suppress Mercury Warning on Tuna

Meanwhile, Seafood Lobbyists Hastily Book “Conference” at Same Venue

An EWG investigation in April helped catch a key FDA official suppressing a warning to women about the dangers of mercury in tuna fish — after meeting with seafood industry lobbyists — then misleading the press about it.

• See how FDA officials tested how to give the tuna “don’t eat” warning
• Read FDA officials admitting women shouldn’t eat tuna if they are pregnant
• Review FDA’s own focus group transcripts

In response to EWG’s work, the FDA has convened an unusual meeting of its food advisory panel to revisit the decision. However, there are signs the agency and seafood industry lobbyists want the panel to simply rubber stamp its earlier decision. Seafood lobbyists scheduled a “conference” in the same hotel at the same time as the FDA panel meeting.

• Rep. Pallone’s concerns FDA stacked review with industry supporters (PDF)
• EWG’s inquiry about FDA slow–walking its preparation for the review panel


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• USA TODAY: FDA panel to vote on mercury warnings (PDF document)
 

FDA Stonewalls Five Senators’ Request For Information
• Senators write to FDA requesting details on Agency’s methylmercury policy
• FDA’s response: a blanket refusal to disclose
 

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Consumer Alert: Chemicals That Cause Birth Defects Found in Beauty Products

New tests show that nearly three-quarters of 72 name-brand, off-the-shelf beauty products contain phthalates, a family of chemicals that cause severe birth defects of the male reproductive system in animal studies, including undescended testicles and reduced sperm counts.

• Download the report (PDF file, 1 MB)
• Companion website: www.nottoopretty.org
 

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Nuclear Industry Muscle Wins Senate Vote, Fallout Begins With Utah

Salt Lake Tribune: Hatch, Bennett Possibly “Duped” by Hollow White House Assurance; Nuke Consortium Says It Will Ship Waste to Utah With Nevada Dump Site Approved

After 15 years and tens of millions of dollars worth of lobbying muscle, campaign contributions and public relations propaganda, the nuclear industry won Senate approval to ship nuclear waste through dozens of states. The plan, which was sold to the public as a way to rid states of their nuclear waste is actually a license to relicense existing plants. The result, DOE figures show, will be the same or larger stockpiles of waste around the country.

Incredibly, Utah Senators Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett traded their leverage to stop “temporary” nuclear waste storage in Utah’s Skull Valley by accepting White House assurances it could hobble Utah storage by withholding federal funding. No one bothered to check with the utility consortium, which has declared that it didn’t seek and doesn’t need federal funds. Utah will get nuclear waste anyway for certain with the approval of the shipment plan. Salt Lake Tribune reports some think the Senators were “duped.”

• News Release
• EWG Letters to Private Fuel Storage, and Senators Bennett, Hatch
• Do you live near a nuclear waste transport route?
• Government accident scenarios — over 30 major cities

>>| FIND AN ADDRESS | ePRESS KIT | eCLIPS (by state)

Non-Anglo & Lower-Income Californians More Likely to Breathe Harmful Levels of Dirty Air

Report Connects Airborne Soot and Public Health

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).

• News Release: Non-Anglo and Latino communities hardest hit
• Fresno Bee: Nonwhite communities' air is dirtier
• San Francisco Chronicle: State air board OKs tough new standards
• Associated Press: California’s micro-pollution standards world's strictest
 

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Cancer-Causing Arsenic is Being Phased Out From Deck, Playground Wood — But Is It In Your Backyard?

• Washington Post: “Use of Arsenic in Wood Products to End”
• Simple steps you can take to protect your family
• Test your wood deck or playset for arsenic

• View the Press Kit or browse the news clips
 

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