CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Our long-term vision includes changing the way business does business, so that everyday products and corporate chemical policies no longer put our children and families at risk. Alarmingly, our nation's current chemical policies actually encourage businesses to use unsafe chemicals, and/or chemicals that have never been evaluated for their potential to harm our children, our families, or the environment. This backwards approach allows unsafe products on store shelves and only takes action to protect children and families after we're all exposed to chemicals that can make us sick.

The Center for Environmental Health works to expose this risky policy and call instead for a "safety first" approach that puts our health and the environment at the center of economic calculations. Here are some of the game-changing projects we're currently working on to encourage better business practices and make children and families safer:
• Building the mandate for common-sense chemical regulations that push businesses to test the safety of their chemicals, disclose the data, and use the safest chemicals available.
• Creating incentives for safer, environmentally sensitive energy sources that promote the health of children, families, workers, and communities.
• Protecting people nationwide from immediate toxic threats posed by illegal products or business practices.
• Expanding the use of safer and environmentally friendly materials as replacements for toxic plastics used in food containers and food packaging.
• Ending the use of toxic flame retardant chemicals in furniture and baby products.

Of course, the chemical industry changes quickly and without notice. When it does, we shift our focus and targets to respond to opportunities and urgent threats. But whatever our projects, our long-term goals remain the same: The adoption of regulations that foster the development and use of safer chemicals, and the development of business practices that don't harm people or the environment.

Based in Oakland but with a national focus and impact, CEH’s mission is to protect people from toxic chemicals by working with communities, consumers, workers, government, and the private sector to demand and support business practices that are safe for public health and the environment.

The team at CEH is dedicated to uncovering the truth through cutting-edge research and is passionate about fighting for justice in courtrooms, boardrooms, and in neighborhoods across the country. Our multi-pronged approach uses science, policy, litigation, and purchasing power to create real wins for public health. CEH has an established track record of ground-breaking victories, including:

Banning Lead in Children’s Products: CEH’s work exposing lead in children’s toys, baby powder, and dozens of other products laid the groundwork for federal legislation. We then helped write and pass the first-ever federal law banning lead and certain phthalates from children’s products.

Leading the Recall on Toxic Jewelry: A CEH investigation and lawsuit spurred the largest product recall in U.S. history that led to a watershed agreement with Macy’s, Disney, Target, Walmart, and over 200 other companies to eliminate high levels of lead in jewelry for children and adults. CEH also won a legal agreement with Target, Old Navy, and dozens of other major companies, requiring them to end sales of cadmium-tainted children’s and adult’s jewelry. We then partnered with the jewelry industry to pass legislation in California banning toxic metals in jewelry altogether.

Eliminating Toxic Flame Retardants: CEH co-sponsored successful legislation that led to the first-ever requirement for furniture manufacturers to label their products for the presence or absence of flame-retardant chemicals. This disclosure practice has been adopted by major manufacturers throughout North America. CEH then worked with huge institutional purchasers like Kaiser Permanente, Facebook, and the City of Portland to transition $600 million in purchasing to less toxic furniture. These powerful voices sent a loud and harmonized message to manufacturers. The result was a dramatic decrease in products with flame retardants. For example, in 2013, 90% of the children’s nap mats tested had toxic flame-retardant chemicals, and now the reverse is true: 90% of nap mats tested are flame retardant-free.

Ending Lead Poisoning Risks from Candy: Working with grassroots environmental justice groups and the California Attorney General, CEH eliminated lead in chili pepper and tamarind candies from Mexico and in plum and ginger candies from China and Korea—both marketed to immigrant children. Major companies including Hershey and Mars changed their production practices, reducing the dangerous risk of lead poisoning for children in the U.S. and abroad.

The Center for Environmental Health is a national leader in the movement for safer chemicals. Our Executive Director Michael Green came to CEH after stints at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, where he helped clean up some of the nation's most toxic sites. Michael also worked with Mother Theresa's Mission in Calcutta, and with the Dalia Lama and the Tibetan community in exile. He was awarded a California Wellness Foundation Leadership Award, and the prestigious Compassion in Action Award from the Dalai Lama Foundation and the Committee of 100 for Tibet.

Our 25 staff also includes national leaders in their fields. CEH Board Members serve as active participants in our success. Our Board members include senior business executives, leading philanthropic advisors, and national leaders in environmental justice and environmental health advocacy. Our Board support our work through media and public engagement and as strategic advisors to our campaigns. Board members also connect staff to others in business, government, academia, the media and other nonprofits who can make our campaigns stronger.

CEH is a leader and active partner in national coalitions working for safer environments for children and families. We are a steering committee member of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a national coalition of more than 450 organizations concerned about toxic chemicals.

CEH is financially stable and growing. Our annual budget of $3 million continues to grow through growing support from major donors and other individual gifts, foundations, fee-for-service funds and corporate support. As a public interest enforcer of California state law, we also receive funds from legal settlements, which go to further our work to reduce or eliminate toxic health threats to children and families.

An illustrative example of how our combined strategies work towards our long-term goals is from our work to end lead poisoning threats to children. In this work, our success relied on the use of all of our tools, including product research and testing, litigation, media and public communications, market influence, and policy advocacy.

Our advocacy ultimately resulted in the first-ever federal law banning lead from all children's products. Several provisions in the law are directly based on our work. Since adoption of this law, we have tested thousands of toys and other children's products for compliance. Lead hazards are now rare in children's products. Indeed, toy aisles of national chain retailers today are markedly different than just a few years ago. It is now rare to find toys made with vinyl or jewelry made with cheap metal, and wooden toys and other children's products made with natural materials are now common. Our work not only ended lead risks to children but also promoted broad changes in the market for safer, more sustainable products.

Of course, lead is just one chemical hazard among many from which children and families need protection. Among other victories, we have also used our combined strategic approach to:
• Eliminate health threats from arsenic-tainted wood playground equipment.
• End the use of phony “organic" labels on major cosmetics and personal care products sold nationwide.
• Eliminate health threats to children from cadmium-tainted jewelry, leading to the first-ever state law banning cadmium in jewelry for children.
• End the use of 4-MEI, a cancer-causing chemical, in Pepsi and other national brand colas.
• Expose shampoos and other body care products tainted with cocamide DEA, a cancer-causing chemical.
• Protect clean air and safe drinking water for Californians, through legal action against some of the state's most polluting facilities.

The health risks associated with PFAS “forever chemicals,” endocrine-disrupting chemicals, petrochemicals, and toxic heavy metals can be life-altering and life-threatening. Our strategies work together to apply pressure to entire supply chains and hold corporations accountable to protect the health of all Americans in all neighborhoods. CEH’s current campaigns include:

Uncovering BPA in Baby Socks
- Creating Healthier Cities with CityHealth
- Eliminating PFAS from Disposable Foodware
- Launching the GreenScreen Certification
- Creating a Non-Toxic Built Environment
- Forcing Companies to Disclose Chemicals Imported into Communities
- Reducing Air Emissions
- Co-Sponsoring AB1200
- Taking on the Petrochemical Industry