- REGISTER NOW: CHE National Conference - Friday, October 13
- CHE Partnership Call Announcement - September 28
- CHE Working and Regional Group Updates
- Tools, Announcements and Resources for CHE Partners
- CHE Science News Headlines
- New Partners
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Dear CHE Partners and Friends:
Welcome to new CHE Partners! We now have 2300 Partners in 38 countries, including Partners in 47 of the 50 states in the United States. Our goal remains to raise the level of public and professional dialogue about the impact of the environment on health.
We pursue our goal through CHE Partnership Calls and CHE science projects like the CHE Toxicant and Disease Database on chemicals and health and a variety of scientific reports and consensus statements. Our commitment is to "science and civility" -- informed science-based dialogue that lets us all explore the revolution in environmental health sciences together and draw our own conclusions.
All CHE Partners are welcome to join CHE Working Groups. Most Working Groups have a disease or health focus like learning and developmental disabilities, fertility and pregnancy compromise, cancer, breast cancer, asthma, Parkinson's Disease and the like.
There is also a very fine CHE Science Working Group, and a new CHE Integrative Health Working Group. The CHE EMF Working Group explores the impact on health of electromagnetic fields. There are also a growing number of state-based CHE Regional Groups in the United States.
If you are able to join us for the CHE National Conference at University of California San Francisco on October 13, it will be a wonderful gathering of scientists, health professionals, and patient and community advocates. Please find more information about this conference and registration below.
For CHE and EEN Partners in Europe, we hope you will join us November 9 for the first CHE International Conference, which we are co-sponsoring with our European Partner, EEN, and the French environmental health group ARTAC, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
Thank you for your interest in CHE.
Michael Lerner
CHE Partner
1. REGISTER NOW: CHE National Conference - Friday, October 13
We are pleased to announce that CHE will host, with many co-sponsors, a one day national conference titled, "Environmental Public Health: Science, Medicine, Prevention And Policy," on Friday, October 13th, 2006 from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm at the University of California, San Francisco's Laurel Heights Auditorium.
This all-day conference, the second CHE national educational meeting, will provide a solid overview of current scientific knowledge regarding environmental contributors to human disease, and state-of-the-art efforts to prevent, treat, and otherwise improve such impacts. Researchers and health advocates will come from around the country to provide summaries of their knowledge and work.
This meeting is open to all health professionals, researchers, advocates and anyone interested in these issues.
Registration is now open at: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=116932. Space is limited, so we encourage you to register now. For more information and an agenda, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/doc/729. General registration is $45, Nursing Continuing Education credit registration is $70 and Physician Continuing Medical Education credit registration (through the California Academy of Family Physicians) is $100 Limited scholarships for registration fees will be available to students and NGO leaders. If you are interested in applying for a scholarship please contact Frieda Nixdorf at: Frieda@HealthandEnvironment.org.
For information about location, directions and hotels, please visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/doc/703.
The meeting is co-sponsored by the San Francisco Medical Society, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, California Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, California, the Lymphoma Foundation of America, The Permanente Medical Group and the Francisco Department of Public Health.
2. CHE Partnership Call Announcement - September 28
Announcing the next CHE National Partnership Call -- Male Reproductive Health at Risk: Testicular Dysgenesis and the Environment -- scheduled for Thursday, September 28 at 9am Pacific / 12noon Eastern. This teleconference will be a discussion on the relationship between environmental exposures and Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome, a term for a collection of disorders that arise from problems during fetal development of the testes and has been linked to lowered sperm quality, undescended testicles, hypospadias, and testicular cancer.
Steve Heilig, MPH, Director of Public Health & Education, San Francisco Medical Society and CHE, will moderate this call.
We will have featured presentations from Earl Gray, Ph.D., Professor, Endocrinology Branch, US Environmental Protection Agency, Reproductive Toxicology Division, Pete Myers, Ph.D., CEO, Environmental Health Sciences, and Shanna Swan, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Please RSVP to Julia Varshavsky Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org to receive call details and information.
3. CHE Working and Regional Group Updates
CHE International Conference - November 9
CHE, along with co-sponsors the Health and Environment Alliance and the Association for Research and Treatments Against Cancer (ARTAC) are co-hosting a conference in Paris titled "Environment and Sustainable Health: An International Assessment." For more information about this meeting, please visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/che-events/739.
CHE Breast Cancer Working Group ~ coordinated by Michael Lerner, Ph.D., President, Commonweal
1) The next conference call for CHE's Breast Cancer Working Group will be this Friday, September 15 at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern time. We will be discussing updates on the 2006 Consensus Statement on Breast Cancer and the Environment, current activities in the breast cancer and environmental health field, and more. If you are interested in joining this call, please contact Julia Varshavsky, at: Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org.
2) The CHE website now has a webpage devoted to the CHE Breast Cancer Working Group, which you can view at: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/working_groups/br_cancer.
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
1) The next conference call for CHE Cancer will be Friday, September 22 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern time. This teleconference will be a discussion about important new developments in cancer epidemiology, including the new "Report to the Nation" on U.S. cancer data that has recently been in the headlines. Michael Lerner, President of Commonweal, will be moderating this call. Also joining us wil be Dr. Richard Clapp, D.Sc., Professor, Boston University, School of Public Health, Adjunct Professor, University of Massachusetts, Lowell School of Health and Environment and co-author of "Environmental and Occupational Causes of Cancer," a review of recent scientific literature. If you are interested in joining this call, please contact Julia Varshavsky, at: Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org.
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
1) LDDI recently held its first joint call with the CHE Parkinson's Disease Working Group (CHE-PD). The call highlighted the research on links between pesticides and Parkinson's undertaken by Gary Miller, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Rollins School Public Health at Emory University. Notes will be posted shortly at: http://www.iceh.org/LDDI.html. Because many environmental toxics, such as pesticides, may contribute to both neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative health problems, CHE is beginning to heighten communication and potential collaboration between LDDI and PD. Though each working group will remain distinct given the needs of their respective constituencies, we hope to raise greater awareness of the emerging science that suggests exposures to certain neurotoxicants may manifest as different health endpoints across the lifespan.
2) LDDI has had posters accepted at the upcoming International Neurotoxicity in Development & Aging Conference to be held in Little Rock, AK Sept. 17-21 and at the National Association of the Dually Diagnosed's 23rd national conference in San Diego, CA October 25-28.
CHE's Washington State Regional Group (CHE-WA) ~ coordinated by Elise Miller, Executive Director, Institute for Children's Environmental Health, emiller@iceh.org
1) CHE-WA is co-sponsoring a workshop on the European REACH Program for Chemicals and the Toxics Use Reduction Institute on September 14, 2-5pm in Seattle. For more information, see: http://washington.chenw.org.
2) CHE-WA is organizing a workshop titled, "Environmental Justice and Health Disparities: An Exploratory Conversation in King County" on October 5th. Invitees include community-based organizations, tribes, government agencies and non-governmental organizations. The intention is to better understand the existing initiatives addressing environmental injustice and health disparities, assess existing gaps, and explore how community organizations and agencies can collaborate more strategically. Other co-sponsors include: Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, Health Justice Network, Environmental Protection Agency-Region 10, Public Health Seattle & King County and the University of Washington's NIEHS Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health and Superfund Basic Research Program.
CHE Fertility/Early Pregnancy Compromise Working Group (CHE Fertility) ~ coordinated by CHE Partner and Research Fellow Alison Carlson, Alison@HealthandEnvironment.org
1) CHE Fertility has announced the url for the University of California at San Francisco - CHE Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility next January 28-30 in San Francisco. For more information, including the preliminary program/faculty list, an introduction to the Summit, registration information (and CME credit) and much more, visit: http://www.ucsf.edu/coe/prhesummit.html. Space is limited, so early registration is recommended.
2) CHE Fertility has issued a Call for Poster Presentation Abstracts for Summit 2007. Submission deadline is October 23. For more information, visit: http://www.ucsf.edu/coe/prhesummit.html. Please check out the announcement and consider attending this unusual multipdiscipline meeting.
3) In October, several CHE Fertility Participants will head to New Orleans for the annual meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, where we are running our third consecutive meeting of the Environment and Reproduction Special Interest Group-in-formation (ERSIG).
4) Don't forget to check our new online library of environment and fertility related scientific abstracts and news stories. You can find easy links at: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/working_groups/fertility.
4. Tools, Announcements and Resources for CHE Partners
Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit Training: Clinical Applications for the Busy Pediatric and Family Practice -- Oct 14, Oakland, CA
This half-day training program will introduce participants to a new clinical resource for practitioners, the Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit. The Toolkit was developed partially in response to the frequent requests by pediatricians for practical, clinical tools that enable providers to incorporate environmental health guidance into everyday practice. It includes materials for both providers and patients on preventing exposures to toxic chemicals and other substances that may affect child health. For more information, contact Lucia Sayre at: luciasayre@sbcglobal.net.
The Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB)
The Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB) is a unique and widely used international resource of results from 6153 chronic, long-term animal cancer tests on 1485 chemicals. CPDB provides a standardized and easily accessible database with qualitative and quantitative analyses of both positive and negative experiments that have been published in the general literature through 1997 and by the National Cancer Institute/National Toxicology Program through 1998. For more information, visit: http://potency.berkeley.edu/cpdb.html.
Environmental Justice for All Tour - Sept 24 - Oct 1
Environmental justice and health groups from all over the country are hosting a national tour of communities directly impacted by industrial contamination to meaningfully link these communities together with environmental justice and health anchor groups and promote safe solutions to toxic contamination. For more information, visit: http://ej4all.org/.
UCSF - CHE Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility -- Jan 28 - 30, San Francisco, CA
The UCSF-CHE Summit will provide overviews by leading researchers of the science on environmental contaminant impacts on male and female reproductive health and fertility, developmental health, and peri-conceptional/ fetal origins of adult disorders. The Summit will also explore: critical research directions and tools; translation of the research to public health policy; integration with health professional education; federal government environmental reproductive health priorities; patient advocate and community health concerns; and translation of research to clinical disorders. For more information, visit: http://www.ucsf.edu/coe/prhesummit.html.
Call for Proposals, Environmental Equity and Justice Partnership
Environmental Equity and Justice Partnership (EEJP) is now inviting applications from eligible grassroots organizations and individuals working in India to apply for its Environmental Small Grants (ESG) and Environmental Fellowships (EF) program. The last date for submitting applications is October 15. Information regarding the eligibility and application procedure for these programs is available on EEJP website at: http://www.eejp.org.
Community Environmental Action & Justice Fund: The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) 2006 Grant Information
CEH, an Oakland-based nonprofit organization that helps protect the public from toxic chemicals, is offering grants for grassroots, community-based organizations that serve and are led by low-income people, people of color, and residents of disproportionately impacted communities in California. Grants range in size from $250-$2,500. Deadline for application is September 22. For more information and to download an application, please visit: http://www.cehca.org/projects.htm#justice.
Newly Enhanced and Updated CHE Toxicants and Disease Database
The newly enhanced and updated CHE Toxicants and Disease Database, a scientifically based, web-interactive database summarizing the evidence of exposure to chemical contaminants and over 180 associated human diseases or conditions, is available on the CHE website, at: http://database.healthandenvironment.org. We also have a spreadsheet version available in printed format or as an electronic file. For more information, please contact Eleni Sotos, CHE National Coordinator, at: Eleni@HealthandEnvironment.org.
New CHE Brochure
We are also pleased to announce our new CHE brochure. If you would like copies of the brochure, please contact Frieda Nixdorf, CHE Administrative Specialist, at: Frieda@HealthandEnvironment.org.
5. CHE Science News Headlines
Most of these articles have been gleaned from Above the Fold.
Risk of 4,000 everyday chemicals to be studied
Babies in womb exposed to 'gender-bending' chemicals
Exodus, Morale Shake CDC
Mercury Rising: The toxic metal isn't just in seafood
Supreme Court case challenges Bush stance on global warming
Alarm sounds on US population boom: Report says growth threatens resources
Some CHE Partners may not yet know about Pete Myers' "Above the Fold," an indispensable daily summary of environmental health science news. Pete, who is a co-founder of CHE and CEO of Environmental Health News (which publishes Above the Fold), is our Environmental Health Science Information Partner. Above the Fold is internationally regarded as THE best daily summary of environmental health news. We encourage every CHE Partner who wants to understand the field to subscribe to ATF. You can also add an RSS feed to your website specialized for your specific interests, so the latest environmental health science information focused on your specific issues and interests appears on your website every day. For more information, visit: http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/.
More News...
6. 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 National Coordinator, at: Eleni@HealthandEnvironment.org.
Best wishes,
Eleni Sotos, National Coordinator
and
Frieda Nixdorf, Administrative Specialist
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