Women's Voices for the Earth Information

Exposure to toxic chemicals is universal, and women are disproportionately and uniquely impacted. Research shows that exposure to toxics in our environment, like those in personal care and cleaning products, is playing an increasingly significant role in rising breast cancer rates, early puberty among girls, childhood asthma, female infertility and other health problems. Despite this fact, few companies are taking the extra steps to research the chemicals they use, or replace those that add health and environmental risk.  Very little government oversight means that companies can legally put toxic chemicals into their products, and then advertise and sell them to women worldwide. Founded in 1995, Women’s Voices for the Earth amplifies women’s voices to eliminate the toxic chemicals that harm our health and communities. We believe that everyone, regardless of their race, economic status, or gender, deserves to live in an environment free of toxic chemicals that may give them cancer, cause infertility and birth defects, or result in health problems for future generations. We lead a network of advocates across the country in campaigns to increase corporate accountability and transparency, enact health-protective laws, and empower people with the information they need to reduce their toxic exposure. We focus on the industries that most heavily market and sell to women. Our programs aim to rid the cleaning products industry of secret ingredients and unsafe chemicals, drive the menstrual and intimate cleansing product marketplaces toward safer products, and reduce toxic chemicals in salon products and cosmetics. Using a combination of market-based campaigns and policy efforts, we are catalyzing a shift away from the use of toxic chemicals, and toward an economy which prioritizes women’s health over profit. Our work has resulted in monumental shifts in some of the largest consumer products companies in the world, and in policies that protect women’s health.