- Welcome Letter: Scientific Uncertainty and Cultures of Belief in CHE
- CHE Partnership Call, April 28 - Preserving the Integrity of Science: Research and Policy Considerations
- CHE Partnership Call, May 24 - Electromagnetic Radiation
- CHE Working/Discussion/Regional Group Updates
- Tools/Announcements/Resources for CHE Partners
- CHE Science News
- New CHE Partners
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1. Welcome Letter: Scientific Uncertainty and Cultures of Belief in CHE
Dear CHE Partners and Friends:
In order to understand each other better within the Collaborative, it is useful to reflect on the different "cultures of belief" among our 2100 Partners. Epidemiologists pursue the relationship between causation and correlation. Biological scientists explore new mechanisms of chemical activity with respect to human health. Government officials worry about the policy implications of the environmental health science revolution. Environmental health advocates tend to focus on specific environmental health and justice campaigns. Patient groups are often interested in finding the best of both conventional and complementary approaches to treatment and environmental contributors to disease, balancing these interests with the scientific rigor of their medical research directors.
The environmental health science revolution is driving a new understanding of the immense complexity of the interactions between environmental contaminants and genetic inheritance, gene expression, nutrition, stress, exercise, ethnicity, income disparities, and other factors affecting health outcomes. Paradoxically, the environmental health science revolution, while demonstrating the important role of chemicals in health, is also increasing uncertainty about the precise contribution of these contaminants because of the extraordinary complexity of the interactions that lead to specific health outcomes.
The policy and advocacy struggle is over what to do with this uncertainty. Chemical industry advocates say: if scientific uncertainty exists, do nothing until we have scientific certainty. Environmental health advocates say: scientific uncertainty exists, but the preponderance of the evidence indicates a strong probability of harm, therefore act with precaution to reduce chemical exposures.
Researchers and scientists face competing pressures with respect to these scientific uncertainties. On the one hand, the evidence of the environmental health science revolution is compelling. On the other hand, there are few economic incentives to follow a career in environmental health sciences. There are many incentives to focus on medical technologies and pharmaceutical interventions.
A very similar struggle over scientific uncertainty takes place between conventional and complementary approaches to treatment. Some mainstream researchers and conservative mainstream physicians say: since we do not have clear evidence of the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine, do not use these modalities until they are proven effective. Advocates for these therapies say: the environmental health science revolution strengthens our case for the interactive role of diet, stress, exercise and other factors in chronic disease. Thus the new environmental health science makes it very plausible that these therapies help in health promotion and disease prevention.
It is important to recognize that people and organizations with different cultures of belief will come to different conclusions based on the same science. The decisions about private and public measures under conditions of scientific uncertainty must be based on personal and public values and beliefs. But we can ask people to articulate the basis for their convictions. If major health organizations set the bar for scientific certainty regarding the role of contaminants in health so high that it is practically impossible to achieve, we can ask them to articulate why these standards really serve public health and what role, if any, interests other than public health play in their decisions.
Many patients, and many ordinary people, believe that chemicals in the environment are dangerous to their health. They also find it very plausible that in an increasingly stressed world, health promotion strategies that increase resilience and reduce toxic exposures and stress make a good deal of common sense. The more we understand about the complexity of interactions between genetic and environmental factors affecting health, the clearer it is that strategies of health promotion and disease prevention must be pursued both in our personal lives and through public health measures. In the face of scientific uncertainties, many conclude that it makes sense to eat a healthy and preferably organic diet, exercise, reduce stress, and work for sensible public health measures that protect clean air, pure water, safe foods, safe products, safe workplaces and safe homes.
Michael Lerner, CHE Partner
2. CHE Partnership Call, April 28 - Preserving the Integrity of Science: Research and Policy Considerations
Please join us for this important discussion on maintaining the integrity of scientific research. This call will take place on Friday, April 28 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00 noon Eastern time. The moderator for this call will be Steve Heilig, MPH, Director of Public Health and Education, San Francisco Medical Society and CHE.
Featured Presentations:
* Donald Kennedy, Ph.D., Editor-In-Chief, Science
* David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, Professor, George Washington, University
* Francesca Grifo, Ph.D., Senior Scientist and Director, Union of Concerned Scientists
Also joining us for this discussion will be Merrill Goozner, Director, Integrity in Science, Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Fred vom Saal, Ph.D., University of Missouri, Columbia, Division of Biological Sciences.
For more information about this call, please visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partnership_calls/474.
In order to join this call and receive dial-in information, please RSVP to Julia Varshavsky, CHE Program Associate, at: Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org.
3. CHE Partnership Call, May 24 - Electromagnetic Radiation
Save the date, Wednesday, May 24th, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00 noon Eastern time, for this call which will focus on issues surrounding electromagnetic radiation and health. This call will be moderated by Michael Lerner, Ph.D., President, Commonweal.
Featured Presentations:
* Michael Kundi, Ph.D., Professor, Institute of Environmental Health, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna
* Cindy Sage, MA, Principle, Sage Associates Environmental Consultants
* Raymond R. Neutra, MD, Dr.P.H., Chief, Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control, California Department of Health Services, Environmental Health Investigations Branch
* Louis Slesin, Ph.D., Editor, Microwave News
In order to join this call and receive dial-in information, please RSVP to Julia Varshavsky, CHE Program Associate, at: Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org.
4. CHE Working/Discussion/Regional Group Updates
CHE's Cancer Working Group (CHE Cancer) ~ Coordinated by Michael Lerner, Ph.D., President, Commonweal and Susan West Marmagas, MPH, Director of Health Programs, Collaborative on Health and the Environment, Susan@HealthandEnvironment.org
* CHE Cancer will be having a conference call on May 8 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00 noon Eastern time. Please join us on this follow-up call about the 2006 Consensus Statement on Breast Cancer and the Environment. This teleconference will be facilitated by Jeanne Rizzo, RN, Executive Director, Breast Cancer Fund. For dial-in information, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/che-events/487. Please RSVP to Julia Varshavsky, at: Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org.
* The 2006 Consensus Statement on Breast Cancer and the Environment originated out of the CHE Breast Cancer Working Group, a sub-group of the CHE Cancer Working Group. Sign-ons are welcome from any interested CHE Partner organizations or individuals. To see the statement and the current sign-on list, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/wg_cancer_news/482.
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CHE's Fertility/Early Pregnancy Compromise Working Group (CHE Fertility) ~ Coordinated by Alison Carlson, Alison@HealthandEnvironment.org
Save the date, January 28-30, 2007, for the Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility, hosted by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Collaborative on Health and the Environment. This conference will be held at the Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF, San Francisco, CA. The UCSF-CHE Summit will provide overviews by leading researches of the science on environmental contaminant impacts on reproductive health and fertility, and will also explore: translation of this research to clinical care and medical training; federal regulatory agency/research institute environmental reproductive health priorities; reproductive health patient advocate and community health concerns, including the needs of underserved communities; and the formation of partnerships for effective collaborative agendas and action.
Reproductive health clinical researchers and clinicians/professionals (in practice or in training); scientists; patient advocacy, women's health, community health, and environmental justice leaders; policy makers and funders should attend. This conference is being organized by Linda C. Guidice, MD, Ph.D., M.Sc., Professor and Chair, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco; and Alison Carlson, Facilitator, Fertility/Early Pregnancy Compromise Working Group, Collaborative on Health and the Environment. For more information about this conference, please contact Mary Wade, Summit and UCSF Program in Reproductive Health and the Environment Manager, at: wadem@obgyn.ucsf.edu or 415-476-2563.
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CHE's Working Group on Parkinson's Disease and the Environment (CHE-PD) ~ coordinated by Jackie Hunt Christensen, Minnesota State Coordinator, Parkinson Action Network, jackiehc@gmail.com
* CHE-PD had a very productive call on April 10. Michael Lerner, Jackie Hunt Christensen, Elise Miller, Ted Schettler, Pete Myers and Eleni Sotos participated in a discussion with Amy Comstock and Dr. Dave Heydrick of the Parkinson's Action Network about opportunities for collaboration. The next CHE-PD call will be May 31 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific / 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.
* Yvon Trepanier, Chair, Parkinson's Society Victoria, Victoria Epilepsy and Parkinson's Centre, has applied for a $20,000 grant to conduct an epidemiological study in Canada to supplement the registry process to identify the distribution of Parkinson's medications in Canada. CHE-PD is working to gain information about medication distribution in the U.S. as well.
* CHE-PD wishes to thank the Park Foundation for its generous $10,000 grant to fund working group activities.
* On April 19-21, Michael Lerner, Sharyle Patton and Jackie Hunt Christensen will attend the 4th Annual Collaborating Centers for Parkinson's Disease Environmental Research Symposium at Asilomar, CA. More than 80 researchers from The Parkinson's Institute, UCLA and Emory University will be in attendance. This is the first time that non-academic or non-institutional representatives have been invited, and we are very grateful to the Parkinson's Institute for extending the invitation.
* On Saturday, April 30, Jackie Hunt Christensen will be speaking about advocacy/activism and PD at the Leadership Banquet following "Riding the Waves of Parkinson's Disease," a Parkinson's Resources of Oregon conference in Newport, OR. For more information on this conference, please call Parkinson's Resources of Oregon at: 800-426-6806.
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CHE's Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) Working Group ~ coordinated by Elise Miller, M.Ed., Executive Director, Institute for Children's Environmental Health, emiller@iceh.org
* New Mental Health Fact Sheet: LDDI has published a new fact sheet synthesizing some of the emerging research on environmental exposures and psychological disorders. This was compiled by LDDI members Michele Gagnon, Elise Miller and Ted Schettler. Please see: http://www.iceh.org/LDDIpublications.html.
* New Legislative Database: LDDI has unveiled a preliminary database of legislation related to neurotoxicants at: http://www.iceh.org/LDDIlegislation.html. So far, this database includes legislation on the national level and in three states as well as some organizations that are working on policy issues related to the legislation listed. Users can search by location and/or neurotoxicant. We invite LDDI members to provide feedback to guide our continued search in other states. Please send comments to Elise Miller at: emiller@iceh.org.
* National Partner Calls: LDDI held a national partner call on April 10 highlighting Dr. Mark Opler's research on the links between prenatal lead exposure and schizophrenia. Notes are available at: http://www.iceh.org/LDDI.html. The next call is planned for Tuesday, June 20 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
* National Conference: The Center for Disease Control's National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry has invited LDDI to have a session or track at their environmental health conference in Atlanta, December 4-6, 2006 (more information will be available soon at: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/conference/index.html). LDDI also still intends to hold its national conference now in May 2007. The new dates will be posted as soon as we confirm them. Please note this on your calendars.
* State Initiatives: The leaders of the LDDI state-based initiatives in Michigan and New York are currently pressing for a ban on lindane in their respective states. In addition, the LDA of Minnesota, which is spearheading the LDDI effort in that state, will host the next meeting of the "Preventing Harm to Growing Brains" group that formed after the LDDI regional meeting in Minneapolis last January on April 27. For more information, contact Kathleen Schuler at: kschuler@iatp.org.
* Autism Society of America (ASA) briefing at National Press Club Briefing: The ASA's briefing was held on March 30 highlighting what appears to be growing evidence linking mercury, vaccines and autism. ASA also just launched a new environmental health initiative looking at a broad range of potential environmental contributors to autism and autism spectrum disorders in partnership with LDDI.
* American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) Science Conference Call April 19 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern: LDDI Partner, AAMR, will host this call featuring Dr. Bruce Lamphear who will speak on "Low-Level Lead Toxicity: The Ongoing Search for a Threshold." Please contact Michele Gagnon for more information at: mgagnon@aamr.org.
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Collaborative on Health and the Environment Washington (CHE-WA) ~ coordinated by Elise Miller, M.Ed., Executive Director, Institute for Children's Environmental Health, emiller@iceh.org
* Research and Information Working Group Launches New Website: A new clearinghouse website has been created under the direction of Dr. Kate Davies, chair of CHE-WA's Research and Information Working Group and Core Faculty in Environment and Community at Antioch University Seattle. The new site summarizes information on chronic diseases and disabilities and environmental quality in Washington State and contains links and references to about 500 data sources. It deals with diverse topics such as asthma, urban sprawl and health, climate changes, pesticides, adult and childhood cancer, contaminants in air, water and soil, and learning and developmental disabilities. Visit the new site at: http://washington.chenw.org/RIgroup, or see the full media advisory at: http://washington.chenw.org/pdfs/RIGroupWebsiteRelease.pdf.
* Next CHE-WA Quarterly Meeting: This meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 10, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 100 of Antioch University. Dr. Ngozi Oleru, Director, Environmental Health Services Division, Seattle-King County Public Health, will speak on land use and public health concerns and efforts to address these issues. In addition, we will be discussing current and emerging initiatives, including a possible new CHE-WA Working Group on Climate Change.
* The Precautionary Principle Workshop: A Debrief from the First National Meeting will be held on Friday, June 23 at 2:30 p.m. at Antioch University in Seattle. This meeting is open to the public. The Precaution Academy will begin on the evening of Friday, June 23 through June 25. The Precaution Academy is already fully booked.
* The next meeting of the Environmental Justice Working Group will be on Thursday, May 4 at 2:00 p.m., at the EPA Region 10 office in Seattle, Umatilla Room, 15th floor (calling in will be an option for those who cannot attend in person). The notes from the April 12 meeting are available at: http://washington.chenw.org/EJgroup.html.
* Presentation on Health Disparities and Environmental Justice: CHE-WA members, Nanda Blazej and Stella Chao, will present "Connecting the Dots: Looking at Health Disparities in Washington State through an Environmental Justice Lens" at the annual meeting of the Community Coalition for Environmental Justice in Seattle on May 13. The data for this presentation is based on Nanda's graduate research on links between environmental contaminants and chronic disease and disabilities in Washington State (much of which is now found on the new website of the CHE-WA Research and Information Working Group). Her findings suggest that a higher proportion of low income and minority communities have these diseases and disabilities because of greater exposures to pollutants.
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5. Tools/Announcements/Resources for CHE Partners
Environmental Health Conference Series: April 25-28, Santa Clara, CA
Join the Santa Clara County Medical Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Collaborative on Health and the Environment and San Francisco Medical Society in celebrating Environmental Health Awareness Month. For more information about this series, see: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/news/events.
3rd Annual Nutrition and Health: State of the Science and Clinical Application - Public Forum on April 30, Conference on May 1-3, New York, NY
This conference will provide an overview and practical summary of the latest information on nutrition and health, clinicians skilled in nutritional medicine, experts on food and agricultural policy, and innovative chefs. For more information about the conference and public forum, visit: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/cme/PH-35-06/PH-35-06.html.
Chicago Precaution Academy: Practical Training for Precautionary Action, May 19-21, Chicago, IL
Join others for an intensive weekend of training to prepare you to apply precautionary thinking to a wide range of issues in your community and workplaces such as public health, poverty, injustice, education, housing, urban sprawl and toxic chemicals. For more information, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partner_events/388.
Taking Precautionary Action: Roadmap for Success - The First National Conference on Precaution, June 9-11, Baltimore, MD
Join with groups to share successful precautionary strategies, tools, policies and programs. Help build the movement for precautionary action to prevent harm from environmental hazards. For more information, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/che-events/453.
6. CHE Science News - Many of these articles can be found at: www.EnvironmentalHealthNews.org.
Two Studies vindicate mercury fillings: No link found to birth defects
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 19 April 2006, Julie Davidow
Two new studies, one from the University of Washington involving orphans in Portugal, found no evidence of IQ or other neurological impairment caused by dental fillings made with mercury.
Battle lines drawn over mercury in shots
Los Angeles Times, 10 April 2006, Myron Levin
States push for bans in children's vaccines. But leading medical groups are pushing back.
New European chemical rules spur change in the U.S.
Minnesota Public Radio, 29 March 2006, Stephanie Hemphill
New rules in Europe could change how U.S. chemical companies make their products. The European Union will soon require that companies prove their products are safe -- or they'll be taken off the shelves.
Chromium wars, the sequel
Forbes, 29 March 2006, Matthew Swibel
Last month when the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued final standards for exposure to the carcinogenic chemical hexavalent chromium - the substance made infamous by the movie Erin Brockovich - industry yelped about the almost $300 million-per-year cost.
How environmentalists lost the battle of TCE
Los Angeles Times, Ralph Vartabedian, 29 March 2006
After massive underground plumes of an industrial solvent were discovered in the nation's water supplies, the Environmental Protection Agency mounted a major effort in the 1990s to assess how dangerous the chemical was to health.
Does power corrupt?
Toronto Globe and Mail, 28 March 2006
No one knows how many people are sensitive to electricity. Scientific debate is intense over whether the condition exists or is a figment of people's imagination.
Bottled antimony
Environmental Science and Technology, 22 March 2006, Kris Christen
Once drinking water is encased in plastic bottles, its levels of antimony tend to rise; researchers suspect that the toxic element is leaching out of the bottles.
Pollutants threaten poor, minority kids
HealthDay News, 22 March 2006, Robert Preidt
Environmental toxins that harm a child's brain development and other aspects of health are much more likely to affect poor or minority kids than youngsters from white or more affluent families, a U.S. study shows.
Cleaner air brings drop in death rate
New York Times, 21 March 2006, Nicholas Bakalar
When air pollution in a city declines, the city benefits with a directly proportional drop in death rates, a new study has found.
Scientists warn parents on pesticides and plastics
The Guardian, 21 March 2006, Polly Curtis
Study suggests increased cancer risk in young. Families 'should consider switch to organic diets.'
Thimerosal linked to immune system ills
Sacramento Bee, 21 March 2006, Dorsey Griffith
The vaccine component has been suspected in autism, but study is no 'smoking gun' to UCD expert.
Scientists hail PFOA reduction plan
Environmental Science and Technology, 15 March 2006, Rebecca Renner
EPA's call to voluntarily reduce PFOA and related chemicals, a primary agent in producing nonstick and stain-resistant products, will remove the chemicals from the environment years earlier than if the agency had gone the regulatory route, scientists predict.
7. New CHE Partners
Welcome to the New CHE Partners who have joined since the last newsletter. Please visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/base/partners, to see a full list of CHE Partners.
Organizational Partners:
Arc Greater Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
Healthy People Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
NoMercury, Carthage, MO
SUNARC, San Francisco, CA
Individual Partners:
Cheryl King Fischer, Executive Director, New England Grassroots Environment Fund, Montpelier, VT
Mary Fleming, Santa Rosa, CA
Carol Greenwood, Volunteer, Seward Neighborhood Group, Minneapolis, MN
Lia Hadley, RN, Andover, NJ
Patricia M. Hilgard, Ph.D., Toxicologist / Risk Assessor, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
Julie Horowitz, BA, MS in progress, Graduate Student/Research Assistant, Seattle, WA
Lillian Jones, DDD Unit Supervisor, Division of Developmental Disabilities, Chandler, AZ
Charlene Kannankeril, N.D., Washington, DC
Diane Kerchner, Director, The Neurodevelopmental Academy, San Dimas, CA
Judy Lane, NP, MS, Director of Women's Health, Preventive Medical Center of Marin, San Rafael, CA
Rick McKinney, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco, Integral Health Center, Greenbrae, CA
Veronica Odriozola, Vicente Lopez, Argentina
Karen Purcell, MD, Ph.D., San Francisco, CA
Marleen Quint, Women's Health Advocate, El Cerrito, CA
Kathy Simmonds, MSN, MPH, Clinical Assistant Professor, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Jamaica Plain, MA
Yve Torrie, Lowell, MA
Jeannine Walston, President, Healing Focus, Woodacre, CA
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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 National Coordinator, at: Eleni@HealthandEnvironment.org.
Best wishes,
Eleni Sotos, National Coordinator
and
Frieda Nixdorf, Administrative Specialist
