Environmental Working Group

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is an American activist group that specializes in research and advocacy in the areas of agricultural subsidies, toxic chemicals, drinking water pollutants, and corporate accountability. EWG is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. In 1993, the Environmental Working Group was founded by Ken Cook and Richard Wiles. EWG is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Its lobbying organization, the EWG Action Fund (a 501(c)(4) organization) was founded in 2002. EWG partners with companies to certify their products. Its reports are influential with the public, but it has been criticized for exaggerating the risks of chemicals. According to its co-founder Ken Cook, the EWG advocates for organic food and farming. EWG receives funding from organic food manufacturers, and that funding source and its product safety warnings of purported health hazards have drawn criticism, the warnings being labeled "alarmist", "scaremongering" and "misleading." Brian Dunning of Skeptoid describes the EWG's activities as "a political lobbying group for the organic industry." According to a 2009 survey of 937 members of the Society of Toxicology conducted by George Mason University, 79% of respondents thought EWG overstated the risks of chemicals, while only 3% thought it underestimated them and 18% thought they were accurate.