News Release

New NRDC report, The Delay Game, documents chemical industry efforts to delay health assessments of toxic chemicals

Big business chemical industries have repeatedly blocked the Environmental Protection Agency and other government bodies from assessing the harms of hazardous chemicals. NRDC provides a meticulous accounting of the evidence behind this in The Delay Game. This new report, released today, uses three chemicals, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene (TCE) and styrene, to illustrate a larger systemic breakdown, in desperate need of a fix. Our report outlines the “Four Dog Defense” that big business has developed to defend its dangerous products, first tobacco, then asbestos, and now toxic chemicals generally: 1) My dog (product) doesn’t bite, 2) My dog bites, but it didn’t bite you, 3) My dog bit you, but it didn’t hurt you, and 4) My dog bit you, and hurt you, but it wasn’t my fault. Skeptical? You should be! FULL BLOG AND LINKS TO REPORT AT: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jsass/new_nrdc_report_-_the_delay_ga.html

CEHN launches national child care program!

October 5, 2010 Dear Colleagues: The Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) has some exciting news to share with you! Today the Network is launching its national Eco-Healthy Child Care program. EHCC encourages healthier child-care settings by training child-care providers to protect children and staff from harmful chemical exposures -- —from Bisphenol-A in plastic food containers, PVC in toys, and formaldehyde in commonly-used furniture to lead and mercury—with free or low-cost alternatives that are easy to implement. Since children are especially vulnerable to harmful substances in their environment, EHCC offers a science-based, practical training for child-care providers to make simple choices for healthier facilities. Child-care facilities that certify they use the program’s best practices become EHCC-endorsed for two years and are recommended to parents looking for eco-healthy facilities. EHCC will focus on training child-care facilities in four to six states a year over the next four years. This year, EHCC will focus on Michigan, New Mexico, Idaho, and Vermont. We’re excited about this initiative. We look forward to working with you, through this program and others, to create healthier environments for all children. Please help us spread the word! For more information about the national Eco-Healthy Child Care program, go to www.cehn.org/ehcc <http://www.cehn.org/ehcc> , call 202-543-4033 ext. 13, or contact Carol Stroebel, CEHN Director of Training & Policy at CarolS@cehn.org. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Cedar Tree Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded different phases of the development, testing, evaluation and creation of this national program. The Network is grateful for their support. Sincerely, Nsedu Obot Witherspoon CEHN Executive Director

EPA Releases Report on Climate Change and Health

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a report that discusses the potential impacts of climate change on human health, human welfare, and communities in the U.S. The report, entitled 'Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems,' also identifies adaptation strategies to help respond to the challenges of a changing climate and identifies near- and long-term research goals for addressing data and knowledge gaps."

Call for Papers - Consuming Chemicals: Implications for Women's Health

The National Network on Environments and Women's Health (NNEWH) is commissioning 6 papers that explore the relationship between exposures to chemicals and women's health. The paper should be 30-40 pages in length and NNEWH will give preference to papers that focus on the social determinants of health model. The chosen papers will be published in a collection edited by Dr. Dayna Nadine Scott. The authors will be asked to present their papers in public lectures hosted by York University, compile a policy brief based on their research and participate in a policy forum. In addition, the authors will receive $3,000 for the paper and lecture and $1,000 for the policy brief and their participation in the policy forum. The proposal deadline for papers is August 1st, 2008.

Antibiotics in our livestock

May 1, 2008 - LA Times editorial on the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture, reflecting on the findings of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production.

SEC Action Validates Shareholder Concerns about Hydrofracking Operations

The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun pressing oil and gas companies to provide increased disclosure on the financial risks associated with the environmental impacts of their fracturing operations. The action comes after two years of investor pressure in the form of resolutions coordinated via the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN).

Record 49.5% "Yes" vote on shareholder fracturing resolution!

49.5% of shareholders voting "yes" or "no" voted "yes" on a shareholder resolution at Energen asking the company to disclose the environmental hazards of fracturing and steps it is taking to reduce or eliminate them. A significant number of additional shareholders abstained from the vote, meaning that only a minority of shareholders supported corporate management's recommendation to oppose the resolution.

Hydrofracking: Map of schools on private well water released. Child Health Groups Call for Robust Health Impact Assessment; Concerned About Children’s Health and Safety, School Building Impacts

On December 20, 2011, Healthy Schools Network and a range of other children’s health advocates called on New York State to consider the impacts of proposed hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) on the state’s children and schools. The groups urged the New York State Department of Conservation, Department of Health, and Education Department to thoroughly assess the possible health impacts of the proposed hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale region and provided detailed recommendations on elements the assessment should include.

Sierra Club Gulf Coast Disaster Map

A map showing the size and extent of the BP Oil Spill.

Report Targets Costs Of Factory Farming

April 30, 2008 - Washington Post article, by Rick Weiss, on the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production's final report. Recommendations include phasing out the non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics in animal agriculture.

For Health’s Sake – Why Environment Matters and What We Can Do– 3 new PRHE publications in Health Affairs

Health Affairs, the leading journal of health policy, has just published their first ever theme issue on environmental health (Environmental Challenges to Health). Researchers and collaborators from UCSF's Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) have published three new articles in this groundbreaking issue. The articles, listed below, are available for download at no cost from PRHE's website: 1. Reproductive Health and The Industrialized Food System: A Point Of Intervention For Health Policy; 2. An Evidence-Based Medicine Methodology To Bridge The Gap Between Clinical And Environmental Health Sciences; 3. The Need For Better Public Health Decisions On Chemicals Released Into Our Environment.

The Fossil Fuel Connection

Extracting, processing, and burning fossil fuels (natural gas, oil and coal) introduces huge volumes of harmful chemicals into our environment. These chemicals, and the tens of thousands of chemical products synthesized from them, are now present in every environment on earth, including the womb. Extremely low concentrations of many chemicals can damage the endocrine system of our bodies by interfering with the intricate, delicate network of natural chemical interactions critical to healthy development and normal function. In September, 2010, TEDX released "The Fossil Fuel Connection", a one-page statement describing the link between fossil fuels and low-dose prenatal exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals.

Nationwide survey of school nurses shows schools ignore children's health

In this national survey conducted by Healthy Schools Network and the National Association of School Nurses, more than 40% of respondents say that they know children and staff adversely impacted by avoidable indoor pollutants and that virtually no agencies assist local schools.

Major contributor of arsenic in animal feed halts practice

This press release from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and the Center for Food Safety details how the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that Alpharma, a division of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, has agreed to stop selling (for now) its arsenic-containing product, 3-Nitro, for use in chicken, turkeys and swine. In 1944, 3-Nitro became the first arsenic-containing product approved by the FDA for use in food animals. This ban comes on the heels of a 2009 petition to the FDA calling for a roxarsone ban supported by IATP, the Center for Food Safety and a number of other organizations.

UC Berkeley Green Chemistry Conference, March 24, 2011

BCGC is the nation’s first major effort to address the challenges of green chemistry through the lenses of chemistry, the environmental health sciences, natural resource studies, public policy, law, business, and economics. “Green Chemistry: Collaborative Approaches and New Solutions” is the Center's first national conference. It will introduce the collaborative approaches piloted at Berkeley and will feature leaders from many fields, who will speak to the role of green chemistry in responding to society’s most pressing health, environmental, and economic problems.

With Announcement of Near-Record Cash-On-Hand, Oceana Urges PPG Industries to Modernize its Chlorine Plant

In the wake of PPG’s announcement of near record cash-on-hand and higher-than-projected earnings, Oceana, an ocean conservation group working to persuade chlor-alkali manufacturers such as PPG Industries to go “mercury-free,” urged the company to stop using polluting mercury-based technology in its Natrium, WV plant.

Investors Challenge Natural Gas Companies to Increase Transparency and Protect the Environment

This press release describes the filing of 12 shareholder resolutions at natural gas exploration and development companies, focusing in particular on the toxic hazards from the practice of hydraulic fracturing. The resolutions ask companies to increase transparency regarding the environmental impact of their operations and encourage companies to mitigate risks by switching to less toxic fracturing fluids and adopting best practices for drilling and managing wastes.

World Bucket Brigade Report: Telling Toxic Truth Worldwide

New Global Report Documents Grassroots Action to Monitor Toxic Pollution: Industrial Communities Unite to Demand Clean Air on Earth Day 2008

Investors Urge Federal Chemical Policy Overhaul to Enhance Competitiveness

Managers of $35 billion in assets have urged enactment of federal safer chemicals legislation to enable American companies to be able to compete better internationally, lower health care costs, enhance productivity, and drive innovation. The letter was organized by the Investor Environmental Health Network and the American Sustainable Business Council

Children's Environmental Health Network (CEHN) Has A New Website!!

Dear Friends, We are pleased to announce the launch of our updated website! On the site, child care providers and parents can connect with our new Eco-Healthy Child Care program which encourages healthier child care settings; users can track current research through CEHN's Article of the Month, and read about our programs. Users can subscribe to our listservs through (Join our Community) and keep up with the most current scientific news and events in the field. We invite everyone to check out the new site (www.cehn.org) and give us feedback! Please also consider becoming a fan of the Children Environmental Health Network's Facebook page to receive all of our news and event listings. Thanks so much and enjoy! Nse Witherspoon Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, MPH Executive Director Children¹s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) 110 Maryland Avenue, NE Suite #505 Washington, DC 20002 (202) 543-4033 ext. 14 nobot@cehn.org www.cehn.org -- New! View the Children's Environmental Health Article of the Month at http://www.cehn.org/science_aom.htm Get involved in children's environmental health! Join the Network's Community listserv (cehncommunity-on@cehn.org) and/or Science listserv (cehnscience-on@cehn.org). Subscribe by sending a blank message to the addresses listed above.