Research

We work closely with subject matter experts to bring you breakthrough research that you can count on. Explore our data-driven publications and reports.

Featured

Water

PFAS Chemicals

Getting ‘forever chemicals’ out of drinking water: EWG’s guide to PFAS water filters

Taking ‘forever chemicals’ out of drinking water: EWG’s guide to PFAS water filters. Discover the most effective water filters for reducing PFAS contamination in your water. EWG's extensive tests...

July 11, 2023

EWG investigation: Dangerous agricultural chemical chlormequat found in popular oat-based products

A new EWG investigation finds for the first time troubling concentrations of the toxic agricultural chemical chlormequat in oat-based products sold in the U.S., including everyday brands marketed to...

January 31, 2023

Federal & State Energy Policy

Power and profit: How PG&E fails California ratepayers and what to do about it

EWG’s utility business model would create a more balanced policy and regulatory regime for PG&E customers. It is designed to hold the company responsible for its investment patterns and shift...

June 16, 2022

All Research

Displaying 1 - 24 of 29

Federal & State Energy Policy

Fossil & Nuclear

California

Outrageous costs, deadly dangers: The real risks of keeping Diablo Canyon open

July 25, 2023

If something costs tens of billions to keep, without any clear financial benefits to ratepayers but with the risk of nuclear catastrophe, prolonging it would be folly. But that’s what supporters of...

Farm Subsidies

California

EWG: In the intensifying climate crisis, a hotter Southwest spurs rising heat-related crop insurance costs

June 21, 2023

A new Environmental Working Group analysis shows a clear connection between rising temperatures linked to climate change in the Southwest and the region’s growing crop insurance costs for heat-related...

Farm Subsidies

Conservation

Midwest

Environmentally sensitive Mississippi River region croplands should be targeted for conservation to benefit the climate and water quality

April 12, 2023

The 13-state Mississippi River Critical Conservation Area, or MRCCA, has millions of environmentally sensitive acres that are full of opportunity to adopt conservation practices that can improve water...

Pesticides

California

The health risks of pesticides in Stanislaus County

January 31, 2023

The residents of Stanislaus County are at potential risk of health harms associated with the spraying of pesticides on agricultural fields in the region. Stanislaus County is one of 10 counties in...

Factory Farms

North Carolina

Farm Pollution

EWG analysis: North Carolina’s factory farms are everywhere – even floodplains and other flood-prone areas

December 1, 2022

A new EWG geospatial analysis finds that, as of 2020, 156 of North Carolina’s swine and poultry factory farms are located in or just outside floodplains – 59 swine and 97 poultry facilities.

Conservation

Climate & Agriculture

Farm Subsidies

Midwest

New EWG analysis: Of $7.4B spent on two of USDA’s biggest conservation programs in recent years, very little went to ‘climate-smart’ agriculture

September 28, 2022

Farmers received almost $7.4 billion in payments from two of the largest federal agricultural conservation programs between 2017 and 2020, but only a small proportion of these payments went to...

Toxic Algae

Midwest

EWG analysis: In the Western Lake Erie Basin, newly identified animal feeding operation hot spots produce excess manure, threatening waterways and human health

July 28, 2022

A new EWG analysis has identified and mapped more than 2,500 animal feeding operations in the Western Lake Erie Basin, a watershed encompassing nearly 6 million acres in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio...

Federal & State Energy Policy

Power and profit: How PG&E fails California ratepayers and what to do about it

June 16, 2022

EWG’s utility business model would create a more balanced policy and regulatory regime for PG&E customers. It is designed to hold the company responsible for its investment patterns and shift...

Conservation

Midwest

Climate crisis-linked extreme weather in the Midwest shows why the Crop Insurance Program urgently needs reform

May 11, 2022

Farmers both contribute to the climate crisis – they’re responsible for producing at least 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions – and they can also be devastated by its harmful effects, with...

Farm Subsidies

Midwest

In the Mississippi River region, billions of dollars spent on crop insurance payouts could have been used instead to retire over 300,000 acres of frequently flooded fields

March 23, 2022

The almost $1.5 billion in federal crop insurance indemnities sent to farmers in the Mississippi River Critical Conservation Area for flooding damage between 2001 and 2020 could have instead taken...

Farm Pollution

Climate & Agriculture

Farm Subsidies

Midwest

New EWG map highlights Mississippi River region crop insurance payout ‘hot spots’

February 24, 2022

A new interactive EWG map highlights county “hot spots” that received disproportionately large and frequent crop insurance payments in the Mississippi River Critical Conservation Area, or MRCCA. The...

Report: 32 million pounds of toxic pesticides sprayed on Ventura County fields from 2015 to 2020

February 3, 2022

Today, from Oxnard to Ojai, people in Ventura County live, work and go to school next to farm fields sprayed with some of the most toxic pesticides used in agriculture.

Conservation

Midwest

EWG water atlas reveals nitrate, phosphorous water pollution in four Upper Mississippi Basin states closely aligns with fertilizer use on cropland

August 31, 2021

The Environmental Working Group presents an innovative “water atlas” tracking phosphorous and nitrate pollution in four Upper Mississippi River Basin states.

Farm Pollution

Midwest

EWG mapping tool could assist USDA Mississippi River Critical Conservation Area protection

August 31, 2021

EWG has developed a mapping tool to track the effectiveness of U.S. Department of Agriculture programs and identify opportunities for county-level efforts to improve water quality, climate resiliency...

Midwest

Pineland Sands

October 2, 2020

The Pineland Sands is a 770-square-mile area in northern Minnesota, home to globally threatened jack pine forests and abundant wetlands. The entire region is underlain by a critical, shallow and...

Utilities

Renewable Energy

Fossil & Nuclear

Federal & State Energy Policy

North Carolina

Duke Energy’s Epic Fails: $11.6 Billion in Scrapped Projects Since 2013

August 31, 2020

In July, Duke Energy and Dominion Energy canceled the $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Six months earlier, Duke and three partners canceled the $1 billion Constitution Pipeline. These surprising...

Farm Pollution

Factory Farms

Midwest

Meat and Dairy Alternatives

North Carolina

UPDATE: Exposing Fields of Filth

July 30, 2020

In the past eight years, three predominantly Black, Native American and Latino counties in North Carolina – already home to most of the state's industrial hog operations – added 30 million chickens...

Federal & State Energy Policy

North Carolina

Tone Deaf: The Facts Behind Duke Energy’s Low-Income Programs

June 3, 2020

In a November 2017 interview, Lynn Good, CEO of Duke Energy, said: “Affordability is really important, whether you are a consumer with low discretionary income or you’re an industrial company that’s...

PFAS Chemicals

Water

California

Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ Detected in Drinking Water Supplies Across California

September 25, 2019

Drinking water sources for 74 community water systems serving 7.5 million Californians are contaminated with the highly toxic fluorinated chemicals called PFAS, according to an Environmental Working...

Public Energy Enemy No. 1

April 16, 2019

Duke Energy is the largest investor-owned electric utility in the U.S., serving 7.7 million customers in North and South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. But a deep dive into Duke's...

Farm Pollution

Factory Farms

Midwest

Explosion of Unregulated Factory Farms in Maumee Watershed Fuels Lake Erie’s Toxic Blooms

April 9, 2019

The Maumee River, overloaded with fertilizer and manure, is the single largest source of the phosphorus that triggers blooms of toxic algae in Lake Erie. Over half of the manure in the Maumee River...

Factory Farms

North Carolina

Under the Radar

February 13, 2019

Although North Carolinians' attention has rightly been focused on the state's dense concentration of factory swine farms – concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, which produce 10 billion...

Factory Farms

North Carolina

And Manure for All

December 13, 2018

North Carolina's dense concentration of approximately 6,500 confined animal feeding operations, often called CAFOs, annually generate two million tons of dry chicken waste and 10 billion gallons of...

Children’s Health

Lead

California

One-Third of California’s High-Risk Kids Not Tested for Lead Poisoning

September 19, 2017

Despite federal and state laws requiring blood tests for all young children most at risk for lead poisoning, year after year California falls far short of its responsibility.

Expert Spotlight

Chemical companies provide quarterly reports on production and sales figures to shareholders. Why shouldn’t the public and EPA receive similar reports every year about commonly used chemicals, some of which could pose a serious health risk?”

David Andrews, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist, Chemical Research: Chemistry and Toxicology

All Experts

News & Insights

Food

Meat and Dairy Alternatives

7 reasons to add more plants to your diet

January 18, 2024

You probably know plant-based and plant-forward diets have considerable benefits. But you might not know the exact benefits.. Do they help your health? The environment?

Cosmetics

Reproductive Health

Hundreds of chemicals in everyday consumer products may increase breast cancer risk

January 17, 2024

More than 900 chemicals found in cosmetics, drinking water, food and cleaning supplies used by millions of Americans every day may cause biological changes linked to risk of developing breast cancer...

Cleaning Supplies

Companies fight to keep consumers in the dark about chemicals in cleaners

January 12, 2024

During the cold winter months you may spend more time inside than out. And you may do more cleaning, especially because it’s also the flu and COVID season. But before you reach for that spray cleaner...

Factory Farms

Farm Pollution

E. coli from factory farms threatens America's leafy greens

January 11, 2024

A single enormous cattle feeding operation potentially threatens the safety of thousands of acres of leafy greens grown in the U.S. during the colder months, an EWG analysis shows.

Key Issues

Research

Areas of Focus

Related Articles

Articles by David Andrews, Ph.D.