Our Work

Safe Fields & Food

Protecting our health, environment, and those who feed us.

Safe Products & Stores

Defending customers and our families from toxic chemicals in products.

Safe Chemicals & Facilities

Protecting fenceline communities and facility workers from chemical disasters.

Building Power

Grassroots organizing and leadership for just and effective chemical policies.

Latest News

June 30, 2022

"Extremely dangerous path": Supreme Court decision on EPA is a step backward in fighting climate change, experts warn

A 2021 study found that fossil fuel air pollution is responsible for causing nearly 1 in 5 deaths worldwide every year. This year, the World Health Organization found that 99% of the world is breathing poor-quality air, mostly because of fossil fuel emissions. In the U.S., the impacts of climate change have historically impacted low-income communities and people of color the most. Industrial facilities are often located in these areas, polluting the air and causing health problems for people who live nearby. Roberts said she hopes the setback from the court will be an "extra push" for change. "We came together because of the failures and the inconsistencies with the climate and with the climate polices that really were not impacting everyone," she said. "…After decisions like the one have been made, now it's time for us to organize, educate, mobilize and take action. And that's what we're ready to do." Read More

June 8, 2022

Green Chemistry Experts and Environmental Justice Advocates Call on OSTP to Center Environmental Justice and Fully Reflect Office’s Equity Action Plan in Efforts to Define and Advance Sustainable Chemistry

Coming Clean, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA) and the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell urged The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to inclusively engage and address the harms faced by communities disproportionately affected by current practices of chemical use, production and disposal, as the Office develops a definition of Sustainable Chemistry. “Arriving at a new understanding of Sustainable Chemistry is an opportunity to rethink our attitudes about whether we are willing to permit the chemical industry to cause any level of ‘acceptable harm,’” said Judith Robinson, Executive Director of Coming Clean. “Truly sustainable chemistry that doesn’t harm human health, future generations, or the planet will require an intentional focus on those most injured by the current system and a complete transformation away from fossil carbon-based chemicals and other inherently toxic chemistries.” Read More

May 27, 2022

Dollar General to phase out 11 more substances by next year

Major US discount store Dollar General has updated its chemicals policy, adding 11 substances to its restricted substances list (RSL) and applying this to more product brands that it owns and sells in its outlets. The company said, in an 18 May statement, that it has added the following substances to its RSL: 1-bromopropane; asbestos;1,4-dioxane; hexabromocyclodecanes (HBCD); octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4); lead and its compounds; cadmium and its compounds; bisphenol A (BPA); diethyl phthalate (DEP); dibutyl phthalate (DBP); and tetrachloroethylene (Perc). The update follows the company’s commitment in 2019 to phase out eight ‘high priority chemicals’ from its own label cleaning and beauty products by 31 December this year, including formaldehyde, butylparaben and trichloroethylene. The company said it is "on target" to do so. In April, US non-profits the Campaign for Healthier Solutions and the Ecology Center Healthy Stuff Lab said they found at least one chemical of concern in 53% of consumer products tested from five major discount retailers, including Dollar General. Read More

May 10, 2022

Faith leaders call on EPA to strengthen chemical disaster rule

Over 100 faith leaders and organizations sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan today, urging the agency to strengthen and expand its Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule, which is intended to prevent chemical disasters at high-risk facilities nationwide and is currently being updated. Chemical releases, fires, and explosions are shockingly common in the United States. In just ten years, there have been over 1,500 reported chemical releases or explosions at facilities regulated under the RMP rule, causing 17,000 reported injuries and 59 reported deaths. But deadly chemical incidents could be prevented if RMP facilities were required to transition to safer processes, faith leaders state in the letter. Their calls echo those of health professionals, security experts, and members of Congress who have also demanded meaningful reforms to the RMP rule in recent months. Read More

May 6, 2022

EPA Proposal Too Tepid to Address Dangerous Chemical Spills

Thirty years after it was first required to do so, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finally proposed a rule to fill part of a gaping hole in the regulations meant to protect our nation’s waters from chemical spills. As the saying goes, better late than never – except that in this case, EPA’s delay has had severe consequences. For example, Hurricane Harvey, which struck Houston’s dense zone of flood-susceptible facilities storing hazardous substances, caused numerous facilities to release harmful chemicals, harming first responders, the surrounding community, and the environment. A few years earlier, a leak at a chemical storage facility along the Elk River in West Virginia left 300,000 people without drinking water for days. It didn’t need to be this way. Since 1972, the Clean Water Act has required EPA to issue regulations requiring industrial facilities that store toxic chemicals near water bodies to take measures to prevent chemical spills. After decades of inaction by EPA, NRDC, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA), and People Concerned About Chemical Safety sued. Although EPA agreed to issue the required regulations, it unlawfully abdicated its responsibility. Read More

April 26, 2022

EPA faces pressure to tighten chemical disaster rules

Pressure is mounting on EPA to strengthen oversight of chemical facilities to better prepare them for disaster risks at the sites. Experts, former agency leaders and lawmakers are calling on EPA to tighten loopholes and beef up its risk management plan, or RMP, which instructs certain facilities to develop contingency plans in case of a crisis. Those sites, which handle high-risk chemicals, are vulnerable to climate impacts and other events that can imperil their surrounding communities and environment. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said last month that the agency plans to update the RMP and issue a new rule by this September. Now, EPA is seeing an uptick in calls for the regulations to address a range of concerns, stemming from environmental justice to national security. Read More

Coming Clean is a nonprofit collaborative of environmental health and environmental justice experts working to reform the chemical and energy industries so they are no longer a source of harm. We coordinate hundreds of organizations and issue experts—including grassroots activists, community leaders, scientists and researchers, business leaders, lawyers, and advocates working to reform the chemical and energy industries. We envision a future where no one’s health is sacrificed by toxic chemical use or energy generation. Guided by the Louisville Charter, Jemez Principles of Democratic Organizing, and the Principles of Environmental Justice, we are winning campaigns for a healthy, just, and sustainable society by growing a stronger and more connected movement.

Telling the Story of Coming Clean

Visit "Our Story" site to explore Coming Clean’s unique collaborative approach to making our communities healthy and just for everyone.

Watch: Life at the Fenceline

High-risk chemical facilities threaten the lives of nearly 40% of US residents — are you one of them? See our stunning new video collaboration with EJHA, NRDC, and Rashida Jones.

Environmental Justice Health Alliance

EJHA builds capacity in grassroots groups to influence local and national policy. We unite their efforts to make lasting change.