EWG Launches Website for Parents, Caregivers to Help Safeguard Children’s Environmental Health

The site is part of EWG’s Jonas Initiative for Children’s Environmental Health, made possible by generous support from Jonas Philanthropies.

WASHINGTON, DC, May 17, 2018 – The Environmental Working Group has launched a new website that will help parents and caregivers protect children from toxic chemicals, pesticides, air and water pollution, and other environmental hazards.

The new website includes helpful and easy-to-adopt tips and guidance to reduce kids’ exposure to harmful chemicals in everything from food and furniture, to toys, personal care products and drinking water.

Environmental factors like air pollution, pesticides, water contaminants, and other toxic chemicals in homes and schools can cause or exacerbate health problems – such as learning disabilities, asthma and allergies.

Children in the U.S. are at high risk for chronic disease. Many leading scientists and public health experts believe exposure to synthetic chemicals are behind the rise in these disease trends, which affect millions of American children.

  • The number of children diagnosed with leukemia, the most common cancer in children, has increased by 35 percent over the past 40 years.
  • More than 8 percent of children in the U.S. have asthma.
  • One of every six children is diagnosed with a learning disability.
  • Approximately 16,000 premature births per year in the U.S. are linked to air pollution.

For 25 years, EWG’s research and advocacy have helped advance legal protections and reduce the burden of toxic pollution on children. EWG studies have documented hundreds of industrial chemicals in umbilical cord blood, children’s blood and mothers’ milk.

Parents and caregivers are partners in our effort to reduce these harmful exposures. EWG’s tips and guides can help them protect kids from known hazards by shopping smarter and taking daily steps to improve their homes and communities.

“Raising children is hard enough without constantly worrying about the risks toxic chemicals pose their health,” said Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., senior science advisor for children’s environmental health at EWG. “There are very simple, cost-effective steps parents can take that will reduce the burden of chemicals on children’s health, and with EWG’s new website, they can start today.”

The site is part of EWG’s Jonas Initiative for Children’s Environmental Health, made possible by generous support from Jonas Philanthropies.

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About Jonas Philanthropies

Jonas Philanthropies is transforming healthcare for the better by investing where it matters most, in solutions that can be scaled for the greatest impact. Its programs address high-need issues and audiences with high-impact solutions: promoting leadership in nursing and veterans healthcare, preventing and treating low vision and blindness, and protecting our children’s environmental health.

For more information about the Jonas Philanthropies, visit jonasphilanthropies.org, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook.