Partners: Environmental Working Group (EWG)
“The Lancet Commission report should be required reading for all elected leaders in the world who care about their citizens’ health and safety, and their duty to protect both.”
— Ken Cook, co-founder and President of EWG
Why did your organization decide to support the Commission on Pollution and Health?
Ken Cook: For nearly 25 years, EWG has pushed for policy change at the federal and state levels to reduce the pollution burden from industrial and agriculture chemicals that touch the lives of everyone, including fetuses in the womb. This landmark report not only confirms EWG’s own research in the most authoritative and significant terms, but also shines a spotlight on the staggering scope of the global pollution problem that has contaminated the entire planet and everyone on it.
What impact will the work of the Commission have?
Ken Cook: The Commission’s report further underscores the worldwide threat of pollution. It should rattle and awaken leaders of governments and industries who have for too long ignored the clear and present danger chemical contamination poses to the lives of everyone.
How can we overcome obstacles to progress in the fight against pollution?
Ken Cook: Many of the actions urgently needed to combat the pervasiveness of pollution and its impacts on human health and the environment are already being done, but on a limited scale that falls short of what is required. The answer to this challenge lies largely in the hands of citizens who can hold their democratically elected leaders accountable. Citizens around the world must vigorously support only candidates who make public health and environmental protection a top priority.”
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting the health of our families and our kids. For over two decades, the scientists at EWG have been studying the effects of unregulated chemicals on our health. EWG works to rid the market of dangerous chemicals through consumer education about toxic exposures, and by providing real, hands-on ways for Americans to reduce their exposures. EWG empowers people to live healthier lives in healthier environments.
The Commission on Pollution and Health is an initiative of The Lancet, the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Commissioners include many of the world’s leading researchers and practitioners in the fields of pollution management, environmental health and sustainable development.
