Center for Environmental Health took legal action to combat toluene, a brain-damaging chemical found in aerosol spray paints and sealing compounds. Our work led to the reformulation of products that teens were inhaling.
We exposed lead poisoning risks from home water filters that were actually adding lead to "filtered" water. Center for Environmental Health's lawsuits forced the entire filtration industry to adopt lead-free materials.
We helped shut down a medical waste incinerator that was polluting air and water with cancer-causing dioxins, less than a mile from the San Francisco Bay.
With Catholic Healthcare West, a major hospital chain, Center for Environmental Health wrote environmentally stringent standards for computer purchasing, recycling, and disposal, creating a market for computers made with safer materials.
Citing the dangers of lead in baby powders and children's medicines, we sued Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and other major drug companies, driving them to make their products safe.
We forced companies to reduce or eliminate thousands of pounds of cancer-causing chemicals that were illegally spewed into the air in low-income neighborhoods near schools, parks, and daycare centers.
Center for Environmental Health forced major manufacturers of children's playground equipment to stop using arsenic-based wood preservatives, which expose children to dangerous toxins after only a few days of use.
In a first for an American city, San Francisco implemented legislation drafted by Center for Environmental Health that called for greener purchasing--making the city's mammoth $600 million purchasing budget a force for safer, healthier products.
A Center for Environmental Health investigation exposed the threat of lead in children's jewelry. Our lawsuit spurred the largest product recall in U.S. history and led to a landmark agreement with Macy's, Disney, Target, Wal-Mart and over 80 other companies to protect children from unsafe and potentially fatal exposures to lead.
Center for Environmental Health, working with the Environmental Health Coalition, eliminated lead in chili pepper and tamarind candies from Mexico. Major companies like Hershey and Mars changed their production practices, reducing another dangerous risk of lead poisoning for children here and abroad.
In 2005 Center for Environmental Health sued the manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of lead-contaminated soft, vinyl lunchboxes made for children. The lawsuit eliminated health threats to children from yet another unnecessary source of lead.
The Center for Environmental Health forced Wal-Mart and Toys R Us to remove lead-contaminated baby bibs from store shelves. Going a step further, Toys R Us removed all vinyl bibs from its stores, protecting children not only from lead, but also from phthalates and other toxic chemicals in vinyl.
Did you know... Hospitals are a major source of pollution. See what CEH is doing to help.
A Center for Environmental Health investigation exposed the threat of lead in children's jewelry. Our lawsuit spurred the largest product recall in U.S. history and led to a landmark agreement with Macy's, Disney, Target, Wal-Mart and over 80 other companies to protect children from unsafe and potentially fatal exposures to lead. See what else we’ve accomplished in our first 10 years.