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Death certificates breathe life into setting public health priorities | Patricia Kelmar

But are they accurate?

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Report | US PIRG Education Fund | Antibiotics

Chain Reaction VI

The Chain Reaction VI report and scorecard ranks America’s top restaurant chains on their policies relating to antibiotic use in their beef supply chains. 

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Report: Most restaurants fail to stop antibiotic overuse in their beef supplies

Most top restaurant chains in the United States have failed to adopt policies to stop the overuse of antibiotics by their beef suppliers, according to the sixth annual Chain Reaction scorecard released today by six major consumer, public health and environmental organizations.

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Blog Post | Antibiotics

Wendy's takes action to stop antibiotic overuse | Matt Wellington

Wendy's, the third largest burger chain in the country, committed to prohibiting the routine use of medically important antibotics in its meat supply chains by the end of 2030. 

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips, Consumer Protection

Waking up to the dangers of inclined infant sleepers | Teresa Murray

If you’re stunned that safety standards for inclined sleepers weren’t required before, get this: The new rules don’t take effect for a year. That’s one of the problems in the world of infant sleep.

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News Release | US PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Statement: Consumers need to go on defense after Facebook data breach

This serves as another important reminder that consumers must always be vigilant about identity thieves who may call, text or email victims and try to trick them into providing more information.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG

New study: Nearly 70% of companies surveyed over 5 years have improved toxic chemical safety programs

The fifth annual Mind the Store campaign retailer report card examines major retailers’ chemical safety policies. It has helped win improvements to company commitments from 70 percent of retailers surveyed.

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News Release | USPIRG

New report proposes roadmap for how to transform America’s transportation infrastructure

America’s current transportation system has been designed, built and centered around the automobile, and it is a public health disaster. U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group’s latest report, Transform Transportation, identifies the numerous harmful health impacts caused by America’s car-centric transportation system and provides a three-step roadmap toward a healthier, more sustainable approach to transportation infrastructure.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Solid Waste

Comprehensive bill calls for U.S. to move beyond plastic

WASHINGTON -- As plastic pollution becomes an increasingly dire problem, elected officials in both chambers of Congress introduced legislation Thursday to address the issue. On Capitol Hill today, Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (CA) unveiled the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021, a bill to improve the health of our people and our planet.


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News Release | U.S. PIRG

Statement: Gov. Northam announces executive order to phase out single use plastics

RICHMOND, Va -- Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday Executive Order 77, eliminating disposable plastic bags and single-use foodware at all state agencies within 120 days, and phasing out  a wider range of single-use plastics in the state agencies and public universities by 2025. It also directs the state government to develop solid waste reduction and landfill diversion recommendations.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Chain Reaction V

The Chain Reaction V report grades the top fast food and fast casual chanins on antibiotic use policies for their beef supply chains. 

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Report | CoPIRG Foundation | Solid Waste

What are Coloradans Fixing?

Something breaks, or doesn’t work right. You could throw it away, but you don’t want to be wasteful so you try to figure out how to get it fixed.

According to a review of data from iFixit, a self-described “repair guide for everything, written by everyone.” 1.2 million unique users from Colorado went onto their website www.ifixit.com to look up how to repair something in 2018.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Consumers for Auto Reliability And Safety (CARS) Foundation | Consumer Protection

Unsafe used cars for sale

AutoNation, which bills itself as “America’s Largest Auto Retailer,” is selling recalled used vehicles that contain dangerous safety defects. In a survey of over 2,400 used vehicles for sale at 28 AutoNation locations, 1 in 9 were found to have unrepaired safety recalls.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Electric Buses in America

New report profiles six case studies of early electric bus adopters across the nation. By understanding common pitfalls and best practices, cities, agencies and school districts can ensure a smoother roll-out of electric buses, helping reduce climate pollution and protect public health.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center | Public Health

Get the Lead Out Back to School Toolkit

This toolkit includes a factsheet, video, sample call-to-action materials and links to additional resources to help parents, teachers and administrators take all the necessary steps to get the lead out.

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Video Blog

A discussion of "Superfund Underfunded: How taxpayers have been left with a toxic financial burden"

U.S. PIRG, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, and the Center for Health, Environment & Justice hosted a webinar discussion of U.S. PIRG Education Fund's new report, "Superfund Underfunded: How taxpayers have been left with a toxic financial burden," and how we can address the problem of toxic waste in our communities. 

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Blog Post

Hacking through thickets of drug patents to get to affordable medicine | Patricia Kelmar

Here are the tactics that drug companies use to keep lower-priced drug competitors out of the market

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Blog Post | Solid Waste

Plastic waste solutions hiding in plain sight: Single-use plastic product bans | Haley Clinton

This blog is the first in a series examining policy solutions to the plastic pollution crisis that are proven and replicable. This section covers single-use plastic product bans.

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Blog Post

Court case puts air ambulance memberships in spotlight. What does this mean for consumers? | William McGovern

Air ambulance bills can run in the thousands of dollars. Some companies sell "memberships" to consumers. But this option may not be a smart purchase for most consumers. 

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips

Shopping for safe cosmetics shouldn’t be hard. That’s why we’re partnering with Clearya. | Gina Werdel

A free Chrome extension and mobile app created by a passionate couple helps customers easily find non-toxic consumer products as they shop online.

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News Release | US PIRG Education Fund

Onions identified as cause of nationwide Salmonella outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday evening that a nationwide Salmonella outbreak stems at least in part from whole onions imported from Chihuahua, Mexico, and distributed in this country by ProSource Inc.

News Release | US PIRG Education Fund

Onions identified as cause of nationwide Salmonella outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday evening that a nationwide Salmonella outbreak stems at least in part from whole onions imported from Chihuahua, Mexico, and distributed in this country by ProSource Inc.

Blog Post

We need to set our priorities straight

The EPA has banned chlorpyrifos from our food. It doesn’t belong where Americans golf either.

Blog Post

Resources I used to prepare my advance directive

Advance directives are legal instructions that include a living will (different from a regular will) and a health care proxy. In them, you state what treatments you do or don’t want at the end of your life and who you want making health care decisions for you if you can’t. 

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund & Environment America Research and Policy Center

Thousands urge EPA to protect waterways from pollution

Thousands call on the Environmental Protection Agency to take action to protect our drinking water and reduce two major sources of pollution: toxic PFAS "forever chemicals" and waste from slaughterhouses.

Solid Waste

New federal bill calls for U.S. to move beyond plastic

On Feb. 11, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall and U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal introduced legislation that would phase out unnecessary single-use plastics, which commonly end up clogging our landfills and polluting our environment. It also provides funding for recycling and composting infrastructure, and would shift the financial burden of managing waste and recyclables from town and city governments to the manufacturers.

 
  • COVID-19 CONSUMER TIPS
    Avoid online scams, protect your credit and more. We have assembled a set of consumer tips and guides, and will add more in the days to come.
    OUR TIPS
  • TROUBLE IN TOYLAND
    Shopping for the holidays? Our annual toy safety report can help you spot the health hazards in the toy aisle and keep kids safe this holiday season.
    OUR REPORT
  • NURSING HOME SAFETY DURING COVID: PPE SHORTAGES
    Seven months into COVID-19 pandemic, 226,000 nursing home residents nationwide at risk.
    SEE THE REPORT
  • AUTO LOAN COMPLAINTS RISE
    Consumer complaints about auto purchasing, leasing and finance have spiked since the beginning of the pandemic.
    OUR REPORT

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