Friends of the Earth has released new testing results from the Australian Government’s National Measurement Institute , which has found that many popular sunscreen and cosmetic products are using potentially hazardous forms of a common ingredient -- anatase titanium dioxide and nano anatase titanium dioxide. Six of the eight products tested, including well-known brands such as Nivea (Beiersdorf AG (BEIG.DE)), L'Oreal SA (OREP.PA), and CoverGirl (Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG)), were found to contain…
Rio+20 and the People’s Summit (attended by more than 50,000 people) both came to a close over the weekend. Much effort from many individuals was poured into relatively few days of meetings. Both events required months of preparation, with some aspects of the meetings even taking years to prepare. You can imagine what it feels like when all of that comes to a close. All of that energy that had been running nonstop was…
In June 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will play host to heads of state, UN agencies, and global stakeholders as they convene for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), commonly known as “Rio+20.” There’s a lot at stake.
Right now, the Rio+20 “green economy” agenda is being driven by interests that seek to privatize nature by further deregulating industry and handing our common resources over to companies for profit through deeply flawed market mechanisms like cap & trade, offsets schemes, and the development…
Friends of the Earth U.S. has today united with the many organizations that form our Friends of the Earth International Federation in order to send a strong message to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. We ask that you join us in urging him to end corporate capture of the United Nations. The UN is the only forum we have to address global problems, in which all of the world's 192 countries have an equal voice.…
In just less than a month, social movements, civil society, Heads of State (accompanied by government delegations), the private sector, and many other groups and individuals from all around the world will gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In fact many are already making their way to Rio in order to begin preparations for the People’s Summit and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20 (20 years after the…
This begs a further question: what happens when nanoparticles are released into the environment, and how will they be recycled? Nano-silver has been shown to be toxic to fish and other organisms in soil and water.
Have you ever used toothpaste? What about deodorant or makeup? Do you wear sunscreen when you go outside? If you’ve answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you may want to read on.
A few weeks ago the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee held a historic legislative hearing to examine cosmetics regulation -- the first gathering of its kind in 30 years! After all this time our government is…
I had the privilege of participating in the Thematic Social Forum this past week in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Porto Alegre was where the very first World Social Forum took place back in 2001. The difference between the World Social Forum and Thematic Social Forum is not much, just another shade of the same color. There are many meetings throughout the year that feed into the World Social Forum process, and these take place…
In 2006, Friends of the Earth released a groundbreaking report, “Nanomaterials, Sunscreens and Cosmetics: Small Ingredients, Big Risks.” Since then, we’ve released updated reports every year, sharing more and more about these alarming risks, which could affect consumers, workers, and the environment.
For almost 100 years, we have waged a war on bacteria.
In a new report by Friends of the Earth, we argue that this war, far from making people safer, may have a harmful impact on people’s health. In order to stave off these microscopic ‘enemies,’ we continue to need stronger and stronger weapons. As the bacteria have found ways to resist the effects of one antimicrobial weapon, we’ve been forced to find another.
…