Corporate Responsibility

As we pass through the season of toy recalls into the heyday season of Christmas consumerism, few of the presidential candidates on either side of the aisle have yet to seriously focus on an issue that would send a powerful signal of commitment to protecting Americans. The question of ensuring American's security from the hazards to their health contained in hundreds of consumer products hangs like a ripe fruit for any candidate willing to pick it. Who is out there protecting Americans from these hidden hazards? The answer: practically nobody.

There are plenty of things to look forward to when approaching old age: wisdom from life experience, frolicking grandchildren, senior discounts, and ... copious amounts of antipsychotic drugs?

Mark Schapiro talks to Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air Monday, November 26, about his book Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everday Products and What's at Stake for American Power. Listen to Schapiro discuss how and why the U.S. is become a dumping ground for toxic products banned elsewhere in the world, and the response of U.S. industry and the government to the tightening of environmental protections in the European Union.

Around 6:30 a.m. an explosion ripped through the Sago Mine in West Virginia. Thirteen miners were trapped underground. News crews from around the country descended on West Virginia's coal country. Lawmakers in Washington demanded stricter safety regulations and enforcement. The nation held its breath.

It took nearly twelve hours before rescue crews could even enter the mine. By the time rescuers dug the men out, all but one were dead.

In conjunction with National Public Radio, the Center for Investigative Reporting helped research and report on one of the largest recipients of federal farm subsidies, the legendary King Ranch of Texas. As NPR’s Peter Overby reports, from 1999-2005 King Ranch raked in $8.3 million in subsidies for growing cotton.

For nearly half a century the U.S. government has protected American factory workers from occupational illness and injury, but a Salt Lake Tribune investigation shows such protections seldom extend to Chinese workers who now make most U.S. goods. In a four part series, reporter Loretta Tofani reveals how Chinese workers are dying slow, difficult deaths caused by the toxic chemicals they use to make products in virtually every industry for export to the U.S. and the world. Tofani visited 25 factories in China.

Dan Mitchell's "What's Online" column in the New York Times featured Exposed this past Saturday:

If you want to know what’s in your food, finding out is easy enough — just look at the label. Federal law mandates that food producers list ingredients. Not so with makers of cosmetics, and millions of Americans have no idea what they are putting on their skin each day.

That is not the case in Europe, where the European Union has imposed strict limits on the chemicals that manufacturers can use in products ranging from body spray to bug spray.

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Science and Technology, International Affairs, Health, Corporate Responsibility

While EXPOSÉ's "Blame Somebody Else" reveals the illicit human pipeline of foreign workers that keeps American military bases staffed and running, documentary filmmaker Lee Wang takes viewers behind-the-scenes to capture workers' living and working conditions in her film Someone Else's War.

This week The Economist featured Mark Schapiro's Exposed, calling it "a gripping new book." The article, "Brussels Rules OK," points out:

When an 18-wheel truck and a family van collided on a Texas highway, ten people were killed in the crash. Reporters from The Dallas Morning News began investigating the incident and found that more than 5,000 Americans die each year in accidents involving commercial trucks.