1. Upcoming CHE Partnership Calls - May 16 and June 5
2. Women’s Health and the Environment Initiative (WHEI)
3. New Women’s Health and the Environment Toolkit and Website
4. Chemical Legislation Meeting Update
5. DVDs of the CHE National Conference, Environmental Public Health: Science, Medicine, Prevention And Policy, are Now Available
6. Tools, Announcements and Resources for CHE Partners
7. CHE Science News Headlines
8. New CHE Partners
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Dear CHE Partners and Friends:
One of the hallmarks of the CHE partnership is our diversity of concern and focus, within the general endorsement of the CHE consensus statement. There are many health conditions, policies and approaches to focus upon within environmental health, but one topic that might logically be said to concern CHE Partners is improving chemicals policy - how chemicals are manufactured, evaluated, approved and regulated. An overdue increase in focus in this arena is underway in Europe, the USA, and elsewhere, with new hope for improved approaches with an emphasis on modern science, human health and prevention. For news of a recent meeting on this topic, which could turn out to be a landmark event, see #4 below. CHE will be offering more educational resources on this front in coming months, and participating where appropriate as well.
Also on the "diversity" front, note below two new efforts led by and focused on women's environmental health. From Rachel Carson onward, our broad field has been notable for the amount of leadership provided by women. While others have speculated on the reasons for that, here I will only encourage anyone interested to join in providing your expertise and ideas in moving our field forward, hopefully also providing mentorship to future female environmental health leaders as well.
Steve Heilig, MPH
Director of Public Health and Education
San Francisco Medical Society and the
Collaborative on Health and the Environment
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1. Upcoming CHE Partnership Calls - May 16 and June 5
CHE Partnership Call with Heather Logan from the Canadian Cancer Society - May 16
We hope you will join us for the next CHE Partnership Call scheduled for Wednesday, May 16th at 9am Pacific / 12noon Eastern time. This call will last one hour.
On this call, Michael Lerner, President of Commonweal, and Founding Partner of CHE will talk with Heather Logan, Director of Cancer Control Policy for the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), about CCS' policy position on cancer and the environment, its origins, and its reception from Canadian and other constituencies to date.
The Canadian Cancer Society recently adopted the most comprehensive policy position on cancer and the environment of any national cancer society of which we are aware. While President Jacques Chirac of France has advocated an equally comprehensive approach to the environment and cancer for the French National Cancer Plan, the Canadian Cancer Society statement stands out as what many CHE Partners consider a model statement for voluntary cancer organizations.
Click here to RSVP for this call.
For more information about this call, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partnership_calls/1084.
CHE Partnership Call - Antibiotics in Agriculture as an Environmental Public Health Issue: Saving the “Magic Bullet” - June 5
Save the date of Tuesday, June 5th at 9am Pacific / 12noon Eastern time for the June CHE Partnership Call.
This teleconference will be a discussion on antibiotic resistance, agriculture and public health issues. The moderator of this call will be Steve Heilig, MPH, Director of Public Health and Education, San Francisco Medical Society and the Collaborative on Health and the Environment. We will hear a science update from Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science Director, Science and Environmental Health Network.
Featured Presentations:
- Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, Adjunct Professor, Environmental Health Sciences Division at the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health
- Mardi Mellon, Director of the Food and Environment Program at Union of Concerned Scientists
- David Wallinga, MD, MPH, Director of the Antibiotic Resistance Project at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
Click here to RSVP for this call.
For more information about this call, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partnership_calls/1214.
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2. Women’s Health and the Environment Initiative (WHEI)
The Women’s Health and the Environment Conference, sponsored by Teresa Heinz, the Heinz Endowments and Magee-Womens Hospital and held in Pittsburgh on April 20, 2007 to honor the 100th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s birth, provided a timely opportunity to bring together leaders working at the nexus of women’s health and the environment. On the eve of the Conference, CHE convened a strategy meeting to design the next steps in building the Women’s Health and the Environment Initiative (WHEI).
The vision of WHEI is to create a world in which women: 1) are better protected from environmental threats to their health; 2) live in environments that are healthier for them, their families and their community; and 3) feel empowered to advocate for protections at the individual, community and societal levels. The purpose of the meeting was to create a network among leaders in the women’s health and environment field with the goal of empowering a broader swath of women on these vital issues.
The meeting garnered a phenomenal positive response with over 70 people in the room representing a wide base of leadership in the field and producing several hopeful outcomes. The group:
- began to build a network of leaders working at the nexus of women’s health and the environment;
- identified messages and approaches for how women are currently being reached on these issues and discussed ways to streamline our messages and/or tailor our messages for specific target audiences of women;
- crafted a set of projects that warrant network collaborations and that are intended to reach our goal of reaching a broader swath of women;
- identified new tools for leaders to stay connected with each other and to improve the network given our day-to-day demands;
- discussed how we best structure this initiative and who else needs to be involved.
CHE will shepherd the WHEI effort until a more formal structure is collaboratively developed and agreed to by WHEI partners. WHEI partners agreed to help plan the next step of informational and organizing conference calls around the areas of: a) structure of the initiative reflective of diverse leadership; b) network building, network tools, and outreach to the “blogosphere;” c) outreach tools for women in the general public; d) messaging, polling and media; e) policy agenda setting, civic engagement and voter education; and f) the nexus between reproductive justice and environmental health and justice. If you would like to be involved in WHEI, and join the WHEI listserv, please contact Susan West Marmagas at susan@healthandenvironment.org.
In addition, the Conference saw the release of CHE’s new Women’s Health and the Environment toolkit and website, described in item #3 below...
The Health & Environmental Funders Network (HEFN) has established a working group on Women, Health and the Environment which brings together funders working at the intersection of women’s health and the environment. If you are a funder interested in women’s health and the environment, please contact Karla Fortunato at: kfortunato@hefn.org.
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3. New Women’s Health and the Environment Website and Toolkit
The new Women’s Health and the Environment website, at: www.womenshealthandenvironment.org, contains information about the science linking women's health and the environment and ideas for individual, community, state and national-level advocacy aimed at reducing human exposures to contaminants.
A toolkit has also been developed that anyone can download and share for free (see: www.womenshealthandenvironment.org/toolkit). Both the website and toolkit were built based on materials and wisdom from leaders and organizations working at the nexus of women’s health and the environment.
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4. Chemical Legislation Meeting Update
On April 30 and May 1, 59 people from 41 organizations met in Washington DC at a meeting hosted by the Environmental Working Group and the Coming Clean Collaborative to discuss how national legislation could begin to transform the rules on how chemicals are managed in the United States. Sobered by the data that show that the current generation of children are the first in four hundred years who may grow up less healthy than their parents, participants focused on the real possibility that new laws on chemicals could, in time, reduce the incidence of autism, diabetes, cancer, learning disabilities, infertility, birth defects and other chronic diseases and conditions.
The existing federal law on chemicals, the Toxics Substances Control Act, or TSCA, was passed more than 30 years ago and has never been revised to correct its weaknesses and to capture how the science on chemicals has changed. The TSCA framework does not require manufacturers to evaluate the safety of the chemicals they produce before they are put in the air, water and soil and into the products we use every day. The April 30-May 1 meeting was focused on how we could work together over time to change TSCA to create a new system where chemicals are fully tested and the government has the power to restrict how chemicals are used so the fetus, the child, exposed workers and other vulnerable populations are protected from harm.
The extraordinary list of speakers included Ken Cook, Richard Wiles and Jane Houlihan from the Environmental Working Group. Judy Robinson of the Environmental Health Fund and the Coming Clean Collaborative, Ken Geiser of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell Center for Sustainable Development, Jay Feldman of Beyond Pesticides, Laurie Valeriano of the Washington Toxics Coalition, Phil Landrigan, Community And Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Mike Belliveau of Maine’s Environmental Health Strategy Center, Lynn Goldman, of Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health and former EPA Assistant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Substances, Jenice View from the Just Transition Alliance, Cecil Corbin Mark of West Harlem Environmental Action, Pamela Miller from Alaska Community Action on Toxics and Pete Myers of Environmental Health Sciences. After all the presentations and many questions and answers, participants worked in small groups on how to revamp the Kid Safe Chemical Act (KSCA), introduced in 2005, to better harmonize with the chemical reform efforts underway in nine states and in progressive companies, to more directly address environmental justice issues, and to create more oversight of the scientific reviews that chemical manufacturers will be required to undertake to show that their products are safe under the new law.
A small group of meeting participants is now working to refine the outcome of the meeting into a package of proposed reforms to the 2005 KSCA bill that will, hopefully, result in a new KSCA by July of this year. CHE will keep all of its Partners informed of this hopeful new effort.
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5. DVDs of the CHE National Conference, Environmental Public Health: Science, Medicine, Prevention And Policy, are Now Available
We are pleased to offer a limited number of DVDs from the October 2006 CHE National Conference titled, Environmental Public Health: Science, Medicine, Prevention And Policy. Each DVD set (the conference spans three DVDs) is available at cost for $15 (including shipping) and features all of the conference presentations. For more information and to place an order, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/announcements/1045.
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6. Tools, Announcements and Resources for CHE Partners
New on the CHE Website: Add Your Event to the CHE Website!
Do you have an environmental health event that you would like to announce? Now you can add it to the CHE website at: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/addevent.
Webcast on REACH REACH-TSCA-CEPA Best Practices -- Not That Innocent: A Comparative Analysis of Canadian, European Union and United States Policies on Industrial Chemicals
Tune in on May 24, at 12noon Pacific / 3pm Eastern time, to a North American webcast featuring Dr. Richard Denison, Senior Scientist at Environmental Defense, who will present the findings and discuss his recent report, in cooperation with Canada NGO Pollution Probe, (www.ed.org/go/chempolicyreport) that critically compares: The European Union's new REACH Regulation, The US Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). To participate, please RSVP by COB, Tuesday May 22, to Cathy Malina at: cmalina@environmentaldefense.org. Details and a toll-free call-in number will then be forwarded prior to the call.
IEER Campaign to Include Women, Children, and Future Generations in Environmental Health Standards
Presently, many federal radiation protection standards are based on "Reference Man," a hypothetical adult "Caucasian" male who is 20 to 30 years old, weighs 154 pounds, is five feet seven inches tall, and is "Western European or North American in habitat and custom." Reference Man is used widely in federal regulations, for instance to set limits on how much residual radiation will be allowed in contaminated soil. Some chemical exposure standards, too, are set for adults not the most vulnerable. The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) has launched a Campaign to Include Women, Children, and Future Generations in Environmental Health Standards. For more information, visit: http://www.ieer.org/campaign/.
2007 Cal/EPA Environmental Justice Small Grants Solicitation -- Deadline May 16
The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) is now accepting applications for a second round of funding under the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program. For more information and to obtain an application package, please visit the Cal/EPA EJ Small Grants website at: http://www.calepa.ca.gov/EnvJustice/Funding/SmallGrants/default.htm.
4th International Conference on Children’s Health and the Environment -- June 10-12
Immediately prior to the Intergovernmental Midterm Review of the Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) in Vienna, CHE's European Partner, the Health & Environment Alliance (HEAL) is co-sponsoring the 4th International Conference on Children’s Health and the Environment. The conference is organized by the International Network on Children’s Health, Environment and Safety (INCHES) and by the Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology (UMIT). The goal of the conference, which will bring together scientists, health professionals and policy makers, is to offer a worldwide platform for dealing with health problems of children caused by important environmental influences. CHE will participate by presenting an abstract entitled "Reducing Toxic Threats to Child Development: The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative." For more information, please visit the website at: http://www.inchesnetwork.net/.
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7. CHE Science News Headlines
Most of these articles have been gleaned from Above the Fold.
States and cities move to curb toxic substances the EPA hasn't
USA Today, 8 May 2007, Traci Watson
States and cities are taking steps to ban toxic substances found in consumer goods ranging from TVs to baby bottles, rather than waiting for the EPA or other federal agencies to yank them off the market. Continue reading...
War on plastic heating up
Toronto Star, 6 May 2007, Andrew Chung
Plastic's shine has dulled recently as the industry has come under attack over concerns about what plastics might do to what we eat or drink, or to the environment. Continue reading...
New Research: Extensive results challenge a core assumption in toxicology
Environmental Health News, 30 April 2007, Pete Myers and Wendy Hessler
The "dose makes the poison" is a common adage in toxicology. It implies that larger doses have greater effects than smaller doses. Continue reading...
Vitamin D casts cancer prevention in new light
Toronto Globe and Mail, 28 April 2007, Martin Mittelstaedt
A bombshell U.S. study will tie cancer incidence rate to lack of sunshine rather than pollutants. Not everyone is willing to jump on the vitamin D bandwagon just yet. Continue reading (Subscription required)...
Food safety worries mount
Chicago Tribune, 29 April 2007, Stephen J. Hedges and Mary Ann Fergus
The tainted pet food scare, which has swelled into a serious crisis for animal lovers, now has spread to humans. Continue reading...
Studies line up on Parkinson's-pesticides link
Planet Ark, 23 April 2007, Maggie Fox
Evidence that pesticides can cause Parkinson's disease is stronger than it has ever been after a meeting of experts who have put together links in animals and people, scientists say. Continue reading...
A safer world for kids
Oakland Tribune, 22 April 2007, Douglas Fischer
A decade ago, the world's most powerful man ordered the globe's most powerful government to identify environmental health and safety risks affecting children and tailor policies toward reducing them. That act has spawned a global effort. Continue reading...
Is the Wi-Fi revolution a health time bomb?
London Independent, 22 April 2007, Geoffrey Lean
It's on every high street and in every coffee shop and school. But experts have serious concerns about the effects of electronic smog from wireless networks linking our laptops and mobiles. Continue reading...
Is it safe? Depends who you ask
Ottawa Citizen, 22 April 2007, Shelley Page
New evidence reveals that every day, my daughters dine on bisphenol A, a chemical known to act like a female sex hormone. Continue reading...
Chemicals pose health 'crisis,' conference told
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 21 April 2007, Don Hopey
Exposure to chemicals in the environment has produced a women's health crisis that federal regulators and some health care professionals have been slow to respond to. Continue reading...
Bisphenol A on trial
Chemical & Engineering News, 16 April 2007, Bette Hileman - Opinion
In light of the potential health effects of BPA exposure and the inconsistent study outcomes, it is especially important that an unbiased panel with no conflicts of interest and with a detailed knowledge of the field evaluate the literature on BPA, consider the weight of evidence in regard to adverse effects, and choose valid studies to include in its report. Continue reading...
Increase in breast cancer linked to pollution levels
Glasgow Sunday Herald, 14 April 2007, Judith Duffy
Exposure to everyday environmental pollution could be a factor in the rising rates of breast cancer, new research suggests. Continue reading...
NIH drops contractor for conflict of interest
Washington Post, 14 April 2007, Lyndsey Layton
The federal government yesterday fired a contractor it had hired to review the safety of chemicals after discovering the company has been simultaneously working for the chemical industry. Continue reading...
Checking out the chemicals in your blood
Toronto Star, 14 April 2007, Richard Brennan
A $36 million federal study of 5,000 Canadians will document the extent of chemical pollution in the body. Continue reading...
New studies link health problems to toxic chemicals
Living on Earth with Steve Curwood, 13 April 2007
Some provocative new studies link prostate cancer and asthma to exposure to tiny amounts of pollutants. Continue reading...
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8. New CHE Partners
We welcome the many new CHE Partners who have joined since the last newsletter. To see the New CHE Partners and the growing list of all CHE Partners, please visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/base/partners-recent.
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Thank you for taking the time to read the latest about CHE. As always, we welcome your feedback, suggestions or questions. Please direct them to Eleni Sotos, CHE Program Director, at: Eleni@HealthandEnvironment.org.
Best wishes,
Eleni Sotos, MA, Program Director
and
Frieda Nixdorf, MA, Administrative Specialist
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