More than 70% of adults in the United States are very or somewhat concerned about their own or family and friends’ exposure to harmful chemicals in food and drinking water, and a majority is also concerned about chemicals in food packaging, children’s and baby products, farmland, and other sources. Further, about 5 in 6 want government and business to do more to ensure chemical safety and increase transparency around the use of chemicals.

These are the top takeaways from a national survey conducted by The Pew Charitable Trusts and global market research and public opinion firm Ipsos.

The survey of 5,357 U.S. adults was conducted Oct. 10-17, 2025, as part of Pew’s work to reduce Americans’ exposure to harmful endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). By mimicking, blocking, or otherwise interfering with hormones, EDCs disrupt the body's natural processes, increasing the risk of a range of health effects, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. And because EDCs are found in food, drinking water, farmland, consumer products, and construction materials, among many other things, virtually everyone in the US has detectable levels of these chemicals in their bodies.

Even when safer alternatives are available, harmful EDCs continue to be used with limited government oversight and transparency about what products they are in. When asked if they were satisfied with the efforts of government and companies to ensure chemical safety, US adults overwhelmingly said that they want more oversight, transparency, and accountability:

• 84% said that the government “needs to do more to identify and regulate harmful chemicals found in everyday products.”

• 83% said that “companies that make chemicals found in everyday products cannot be trusted to ensure product safety without government oversight.”

• 83% want companies to tell them more about the chemicals in their products.

• 77% said polluters should be primarily responsible for paying to clean up contamination from harmful chemicals;

• 23% said the government should bear the main responsibility.

Results were high across self-identified demographic categories. For example, respondents who agreed that “government needs to do more” on chemical safety included:

• 86% of people between the ages of 18 and 49, 83% between the ages of 50 and 64, and 81% ages 65 and up.

• 83% of people in the West, 84% in the South, 86% in the Northeast, and 84% in the Midwest.

• 79% of Republicans, 77% of conservatives, 85% of moderates, 89% of liberals, 88% of Democrats, and 90% of those who declined to identify politically.

Pew plans to work with federal and state lawmakers, regulators, businesses, community leaders, scientists, and other stakeholders to reduce the public’s exposure to these hazardous substances.

To download the full findings in an article by Jennifer McPartland, the Pew Charitable Trust’s director of safer chemicals, click here