1. Upcoming CHE Partnership Calls - February 26 and March 8
2. UCSF-CHE Environmental Reproductive Health Summit, Follow-Up
3. Working and Regional Group Updates
4. Tools, Announcements and Resources for CHE Partners
5. CHE Science News Headlines
6. New CHE Partners
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Dear CHE Partners and Friends:
As this newsletter is being prepared, many of us actively involved in CHE are still marveling at the recent conference on fertility issues CHE presented with the University of California, San Francisco. You may have been there, or know somebody who was - over 400 people from around the country and many other nations participated. Some details are below, but here I can only add that it was an extraordinary example of just what CHE attempts to do - bring together a wide range of expert and committed people to learn and plan more learning and action. There will be an open Partnership call on February 26 to provide some summaries of what transpired at this landmark meeting; details below.
As for our regular Partnership calls, we just presented a fascinating call on climate change and human health, and in the works are more on risk assessment, the impacts of war, and more. Information on already-planned calls are below as well, with more to come as we host (at a minimum) monthly calls featuring respected colleagues from cross-disciplinary fields and useful online resources.
For a real-world, close-up story of a "fenceline" community where some residents have concluded "nobody should live here", see Steve Lerner's new installment "Midway Village: Public Housing Built on Contaminated Soil": http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/homepage/789.
There are now over 2600 CHE Partners, and our work continues and expands. We wish you well in your own endeavors.
Steve Heilig, MPH
Founding CHE Partner
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1. Upcoming CHE Partnership Calls - February 26 and March 8
February 26th CHE Partnership Call: Fertile Ground: Highlights of the UCSF-CHE Fertility Summit
If you weren’t able to attend the recent and highly successful UCSF-CHE Fertility Summit, please join us on Monday, February 26 at 9am Pacific /12noon Eastern time for discussion of the highlights and outcomes of the Summit.
The featured presenters for this call will be Dr. Linda Giudice, Ph.D., MD, M.Sc., Professor and Chair of UCSF’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, and Co-Chair of the 2007 Fertility Summit and Andrea C. Gore, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas at Austin. Michael Lerner, President of Commonweal and Founding Partner of CHE, will serve as moderator.
Please RSVP to Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org to receive call details and information. For more information about this call, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partnership_calls/884.
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March 8th, Special Policy Education Call: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Risk Assessment Bulletin
On Thursday, March 8 at 9am Pacific / 12noon Eastern time CHE is hosting a special policy education call regarding the proposed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) risk assessment bulletin, the response from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the expected next steps.
The call will feature presentations by Rena Steinzor, JD, Jacob A. France Research Professor of Law and Director of the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Maryland, and Robert Schull, Deputy Director for Auto Safety and Regulatory Policy at Public Citizen. Steve Heilig, MPH, Director of Public Health & Education, San Francisco Medical Society and CHE will moderate the call.
To join this call and receive dial-in instructions, please RSVP to Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org. For more information, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partnership_calls/943.
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2. UCSF-CHE Environmental Reproductive Health Summit, Follow-Up
A packed auditorium of over 400 leading scientists, physicians, nurses, patient and community group representatives, government agency officials and others came together for three intensive days at the highly successful 2007 University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) - CHE Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility on January 28-30.
Colleagues gathered at the UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center to exchange the latest research around environmental contaminants and reproductive health, discuss how the science impacts public health, education, policy, and the health care system and explore mutual areas of collaboration among the diverse constituencies participating in the Summit.
Highlights of some of the cutting-edge science presented at the Summit included several presentations showing that low level exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals like Diethylstilbestrol (DES) and Bisphenol-A may interfere with fetal development and cause health problems such as endometriosis, cancer, and infertility later in life, and that these health effects may be passed down to future generations, so that even the grandchildren of those initially exposed may also be affected.
Many participants commented that they found the science and sense of shared purpose that came out of the Summit to be compelling and inspirational. Dr. Russell S. Kirby, Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, called the Summit “a propitious beginning” and compared it to a 1970 Earth Day celebration that galvanized the entire Earth Day movement.
Under the outstanding leadership of Summit Co-Directors Alison Carlson, Facilitator of the CHE Fertility/Pregnancy Compromise Work Group, Dixie Horning, Executive Director of UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, Dr. Tracey Woodruff, Research Scientist at the UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies (on sabbatical from US EPA), Summit Manager, Mary Wade, MJ, UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, Summit Co-Chairs Dr. Philip R. Lee, Founding Chairman of CHE and Chancellor and Professor Emeritus at UCSF and Dr. Linda Giudice, Professor and Chair of UCSF’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, the Summit highlighted the department’s newly-created Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE), a venture that aims to model the principles of collaboration and integration of trans-disciplinary environmental reproductive health research with education, health care, and health advocacy (For more information about PRHE, please visit: http://www.ucsf.edu/coe/prhe.html).
CHE looks forward to a continued partnership with PRHE and UCSF, to expand on the building blocks set forth by the Summit, and to facilitate further collaboration among those interested in working on reproductive and environmental health. Proceedings of the Summit will be published in the near future and CHE staff will make sure that Partners are notified when these materials are available.
Please be sure to join us for the upcoming CHE Partnership Call (February 26 @ 9am Pacific) that will focus on highlights from the 2007 Fertility Summit.
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3. Working and Regional Group Updates
CHE's Cancer Working Group (CHE Cancer) ~ coordinated by Michael Lerner, President of Commonweal. If you would like to join the CHE Cancer Working Group, send an email to Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org.
Please join us for the next CHE Cancer Call, scheduled for Wednesday, February 28 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern. This call will be a follow up conversation to the December 2006 CHE Breast Cancer Call that focused on a variety of issues around United States breast cancer data, with a featured presentation by Dr. Janet Gray, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Program in Science, Technology and Society at Vassar College and author of the interactive CD-ROM entitled Environmental Risks and Breast Cancer.
Please RSVP to Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org. Visit http://www.healthandenvironment.org/wg_cancer_news/809 for more information about this call.
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Collaborative on Health and the Environment in Pennsylvania (CHE-Penn) ~ coordinated by Elisa Beck, OD, elisabeck@che-penn.org
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Elisa Beck is the new Coordinator of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment in Pennsylvania. In addition to coordinating CHE-Penn, Elisa is a trained optometrist specializing in treating children and adults with learning-related visual issues. She has served as a past Board Member of the Rachel Carson Homestead Association and has a keen passion for environmental health issues. Elisa holds BS degrees in Biological Sciences and Visual Science and a Doctor of Optometry from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. Welcome, Elisa! CHE-Penn Partners will be hearing from Elisa shortly via the CHE-Penn listserv. If you would like to join this listserv, contact Elisa at elisabeck@che-penn.org.
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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
* LDDI's National Conference 2007, "Priming for Prevention: An Ecological Approach to Research, Education and Policy," will be held May 10-11 at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. Former US Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, among other distinguished speakers, will be presenting at this conference. A registration form is now available at: http://www.iceh.org/LDDImeetings.html.
* LDDI has recently published, updated and reformatted four more Practice Prevention columns on perchlorate, lindane, baby care products and an overview of neurotoxicants and children’s health. These are posted at: http://www.iceh.org/LDDIpublications.html. The Practice Prevention columns offer many useful suggestions to help you and others protect children from harmful exposures to toxics.
* The National Council on Science and the Environment’s conference held February 1-2 in Washington, DC featured a session on “Children’s Minds: Environment, Development and Mental Function,” chaired by Elise Miller, M.Ed. and featuring Herb Needleman, MD, Leslie Rubin, MD, Allison Davis, Ph.D., RN and Stephen Kellert, Ph.D. The next LDDI quarterly call will focus on follow-up discussion from this session.
* The Learning Disabilities Association of America, one of LDDI's leading organizations, is holding its annual international conference February 14–17 in Pittsburgh, PA. The Medical Symposium will feature Pete Myers, Ph.D., Lynn Goldman, MD, and other leaders in the environmental health field, and the formal conference will include presentations by Herb Needleman, MD and Elise Miller, M.Ed. For more information and to register, visit http://www.ldaamerica.org.
* The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD, formerly AAMR), another leading LDDI organization, just held its February Research Teleconference Call featuring Carolyn Graff, Ph.D., Chief of Nursing at the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities and Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. To find out about upcoming calls and more information on AAIDD's Teleconference Series visit: www.ehinitiative.org.
* The National Association for the Dually Diagnosed (NADD), another LDDI partner, is launching its new Environmental Health Initiative. Their first steps include developing a NADD Environmental Health homepage on their web site and publishing a Practice Prevention column in the NADD Bulletin. For more information visit: www.thenadd.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
* CHE-WA has held the first two lectures of its fourth annual environmental health lecture series entitled "Our Health, Our Environment: Making the Link -- Seeking Solutions." These lectures held at Town Hall Seattle featured Dr. Terry Collins on green chemistry and Dr. Joel Tickner on nanotechnology and precaution. The remaining lectures will be on March 21 (Biofuels) and April 18 (Sustainable Systems). The series is sponsored by the Seattle Biotech Legacy Foundation and organized by the Institute for Children's Environmental Health. For more information and to register, please visit http://washington.chenw.org/lectures.html.
* Notes and slide presentations from CHE-WA's January 4th quarterly meeting are now posted at: http://washington.chenw.org/meetings.html. If you are interested in joining the newly formed Climate Change and Health Working Group resulting from discussion at this meeting, please contact Elise Miller at: emiller@iceh.org.
* The next CHE-WA Precautionary Principle Working Group call will be held Wednesday, February 21 at 2:30 p.m. PT. For more information, contact Steve Gilbert, Ph.D., chair of the PP Working Group at: sgilbert@innd.org.
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4. Tools, Announcements and Resources for CHE Partners
2007 Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Request for Proposals and Informational Webcasts
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a funding notice for the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. CARE is a unique community-based, community-driven, multimedia demonstration program designed to help communities understand and reduce risks due to toxics and environmental pollutants from all sources EPA will be awarding $2.7 million dollars in Level I and Level II cooperative agreements. For more information about the request for proposals (RFPs), visit: http://www.epa.gov/air/grants/07-02.pdf.
The CARE program will conduct three identical national informational sessions for potential applicants via a national webcast on February 20, February 26, and March 1. For more information and to register, please go to: http://www.cluin.org/studio/seminar.cfm#upcoming.
The Health & Environment Alliance and Pesticides Action Network Europe
The Health & Environment Alliance and Pesticides Action Network Europe are co-organizing an event in the European Parliament on March 7th in Brussels, Belgium to address the debate around the new pesticides regulation. For more information, visit: http://www.pan-europe.info/.
Stay Healthy, Stop Mercury Campaign
HEAL and Health Care Without Harm Europe launched the report of a joint Stay Healthy, Stop Mercury campaign on January 10 in the European Parliament entitled, "Halting the child brain drain: why we need to tackle global mercury contamination". The full report, presentations from the official launch at the European Parliament, press pack and other background material can be downloaded at: http://www.env-health.org/stopmercury/. For more information or to receive a paper copy of the report, please send an email with your details to Anna Marks: intern@env-health.org.
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5. CHE Science News Headlines
Most of these articles have been gleaned from Above the Fold.
Should You Trust Your Makeup?
The New York Times, 15 February 2007, Natasha Singer
For decades, companies that make everything from after-shave to lip gloss have conducted safety testing on grooming products and shipped the cosmetics to stores to be sold to consumers, all with very little government involvement. And over the years, there have been few health or safety problems associated with the myriad grooming products and cosmetics on the market. Continue reading...
World Leaders Agree to Phase Out Mercury
Independent Online, 12 February 2007, Daniel Wallis
Governments agreed to phase out the use of deadly mercury in industries ranging from mining to chemicals manufacture and power generation on Friday, breaking a deadlock at a major United Nations environment meeting in Kenya. Continue reading...
New European Chemicals Policy Overhaul Begins to Take the Handle Off the Toxics Pump
The Pump Handle, 7 February 2007, Joel Tickner
The European Union (EU) recently issued new regulations requiring chemical firms to develop health and environmental data on chemicals used to make everyday products and provide reasonable assurances of safety. Continue reading...
Low-level Toxicants Can Harm Brain
Newsday, 5 February 2007, Jamie Talan
Low levels of mercury and lead exposure can damage developing brain cells -- a finding that might help explain how these toxicants can lead to a host of mental and medical problems, a new study said. Continue reading...
Scientists Expose Body Toxin Risks
Oakland Tribune, 4 February 2007, Douglas Fischer
Your ability to reproduce -- and the health of your child and even your child's children -- hinges on an exquisitely timed series of chemical reactions controlled by infinitesimally tiny amounts of hormones. And society may be scrambling that control with synthetic chemicals. Continue reading...
Bush Directive Increases Sway On Regulation
New York Times, 30 January 2007, Robert Pear
President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policies that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy. Continue reading...
Rise and Rise of Autism is a Riddle the Experts can't Crack
The Scotsman, 30 January 2007, Kevin Schofield
By any measure, the rise in autism rates in the past 20 years has been astronomical. Continue reading...
Marked rise in MS in the US debated by scientists
NewScientist.com, 29 January 2007, Roxanne Khamsi
Neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease are becoming more common in the US, a large new analysis suggests. Continue reading...
World Scientists Near Consensus on Warming
New York Times, 30 January 2007, James Kanter and Andrew C. Revkin
Scientists worldwide gathered to hammer out the final details of an authoritative report on climate change that is expected to project centuries of rising temperatures and sea levels unless CO2 emissions are curbed. Continue reading...
Multiplication Problems
Ottawa Citizen, 21 January 2007, Shelley Page
What's to blame for the rise in infertility? It's not just advanced age. According to the CDC, women under 25 make up the fastest-growing segment of U.S. women with impaired fertility. Continue reading...
Can the God-fearing Truly Go Green? Opinions Vary locally, Nationally
Waco Tribune-Herald, 21 January 2007, Cindy V. Culp
Some Christians may soon be hearing about environmental causes from the pulpit if a newly formed partnership between scientists and evangelical leaders gains traction in local congregations. Continue reading...
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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 Program Director, at: Eleni@HealthandEnvironment.org.
Best wishes,
Eleni Sotos, MA, Program Director
and
Frieda Nixdorf, MA, Administrative Specialist
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