Environmental Health Sciences

Environmental Health Sciences is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2002 to increase public understanding of the scientific links between environmental factors and human health.

EHS partners with two organizations, the Science Communication Network and Advancing Green Chemistry, to oversee the Science Communication Fellows program. Every year since 2007, the program hosts 10 outstanding researchers to develop the skills needed to present and communicate the complexities of environmental health to the public.

In partnership with Advancing Green Chemistry, EHS is developing tools and protocols that will help chemists reduce the likelihood that new chemicals they are bringing to market will be hazardous.

From its base in Charlottesville, Virginia, EHS also publishes two websites, Environmental Health News and The Daily Climate. Edited by a team of experienced, award-winning journalists and environmental health experts, EHN and TDC offer original reporting and compile news stories from around the world to give a comprehensive daily look at the vital issues in science, environment and health.

Current News

Environmental Health News: Marine daughter seeks dignity for 'Devil Dog pups.' Many of those buried in a lonely section of Onslow Memorial Park near Jacksonville, NC, known as "Babyland" were the children of Marines stationed down the road at Camp Lejeune. How many of these fellow "Devil Dog pups," she wondered, died because they or their pregnant mothers had swallowed or bathed in the base's toxic water? May 19, 2013; The health toll of immigration. A growing body of mortality research on immigrants has shown that the longer they live in this country, the worse their rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. And while their American-born children may have more money, they tend to live shorter lives than the parents. May 19, 2013; After nearly 30 years, Camp Lejeune coming clean. The former Hadnot Point fuel farm, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune's main fuel depot until it was ordered closed in the 1980s, is the site of what's considered the worst case of drinking-water contamination in the nation's history. But the Marines stress that that's just what it is – history. May 19, 2013; Marine who dumped toxicants felt illness was payback. Ron Poirier couldn't escape the feeling that his cancer was somehow a punishment. As a young Marine electronics technician at Camp Lejeune in the mid-1970s, the Massachusetts man figured he'd dumped hundreds of gallons of toxic solvents onto the ground. May 19, 2013; The hunt for endocrine disruptors. When Mark Ferry tested water at popular Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, some of the most worrisome ingredients included the plastic component bisphenol A (BPA) and the disinfectant triclosan, are likely endocrine disruptors, chemicals that can interfere with the body’s hormone system. May 19, 2013; More…

The Daily Climate: Doctors confirm black lung in victims of mine blast. The tragic deaths of 29 coal miners in a massive explosion in 2010 have provided new evidence of a resurgence of the disease known as black lung. Extraordinarily high rates of black lung in the Upper Big Branch victims were first found during autopsies just after the explosion. May 19, 2013; The man who makes data cool. When handled with care, global statistics can help challenge common misconceptions about the world, particularly population and fertility, says statistician Hans Rosling. Chief among the myths to be debunked: That the world is split in two – with a developed world on one side and a developing world on the other. May 19, 2013; Full hour of climate on "This American Life." After years of being stuck, the national conversation on climate change finally started to shift — just a little — last year, the hottest year on record in the US, with Hurricane Sandy, drought devastating Midwest farms, and California and Colorado on fire. Lots of people were wondering if global warming had finally arrived, here at home. May 19, 2013; Climate change impacts ripple through fishing industry while ocean science lags behind. A growing number of scientists, as well as fishermen, recognize that global warming is sending the already delicate and opaque mechanics of marine ecosystems into a period of rapid flux. May 19, 2013; Rebuilding the coastline, but at what cost? When a handful of retired homeowners from Osborn Island in New Jersey gathered last month to discuss post-Hurricane Sandy rebuilding and environmental protection, L. Stanton Hales Jr., a conservationist, could not have been clearer about the risks they faced. May 19, 2013; More…