• General Resources – gives the web sites that provide general information on environmental issues. Some of the web sites landed in this category because they do not fit elsewhere.
• Researching Chemicals – lists the web sites that help users understand the environmental, human health and wildlife dangers of chemicals.
• Sources of Publications – provides information on web sites that offer free publications on a range of environmental issues.
Environmental Research Foundation [http://www.rachel.org/]
Environmental Research Foundation (ERF) publishes
Rachel’s Environment & Health
Weekly to inform grass-roots activists and the interested public about the
relationships between hazardous materials, environmental quality and human
health. ERF’s bi-lingual (English
and Spanish) web site includes all back issues of Rachel’s Environment & Health Weekly,
an extensive directory of citizens’ grass-roots action organizations, a
library of documents, and links to many related web sites.
GOV.Research_Center [http://grc.ntis.gov/]
The
GOV.Research_Center (GRC) is a partnership between the U.S. Department of
Commerce's National Technical Information Service and the National Information
Services Corporation to provide a single access point to valuable government
information. GRC includes databases
on agriculture and life sciences, energy science and technology, nuclear
science, federal research in progress, occupational safety and health, and toxic
effects of chemicals. While this
databank is expensive ($860.00 for a single user per year) it has a 30-day free
trial offer.
Law Librarian’s Society of Washington, D.C.,
Quick
Links To House And Senate Committee Documents
And Hearings [http://www.llsdc.org/sis/legislative/gpolinks.htm]
This site provides links to U.S. House and Senate
Committee Hearings. The site is
organized by Committees and includes schedules, transcripts, testimony,
published hearings and publications.
The House Committee on Resources and the Senate Committees on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Environment and Public Works; and Energy
and Natural Resources are of interest for environmental
issues.
National Cancer Institutes SEER
Database [http://seer.cancer.gov/]
The SEER
(Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) Program of the National Cancer
Institute is the most authoritative source of information on cancer incidence
and survival in the United States. Information on more than 2.5 million cancer
cases is included in the SEER database, and approximately 160,000 new cases are
accessioned each year within the SEER catchment areas. SEER data, publications,
and resources are available free of charge. Of particular interest are the Cancer
Statistics Reviews, which are available on the web at http://seer.cancer.gov/Publications/.
Right-to-Know Network [http://www.rtk.net/]
The Right-to-Know Network (which pre-dates the
world wide web by several years) provides free access to numerous databases,
text files, and conferences on the environment, and sustainable development.
With the breadth of information available on RTK NET, you can identify specific
factories or industries and their environmental effects on particular
geographical areas, including toxic releases, chemical spills and accidents,
permit violations, and more.
Scorecard [http://www.scorecard.org/]
Scorecard is an environmental information service
provided by Environmental Defense (formerly Environmental Defense Fund).
Scorecard provides current information on toxic waste sites all over the U.S.
You can enter your zip code and find out the air pollution levels, animal waste
levels, etc. in your area. It also includes links to related health information
and can show you maps of areas you select.
This web site is a knock-out.
Sierra
Club Toxics [http://www.sierraclub.org/toxics/]
This web site provides information on the Club’s
work on cancer, environmental justice, Superfund sites, Brownfields
(contaminated urban sites slated for re-development), incineration, and polluter
secrecy. You will also find links
to some of the reports the Club has published on these
issues.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
(ATSDR) ToxFAQs [http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html]
ATSDR
ToxFAQs is a series of summaries about hazardous substances being developed by
the ATSDR Division of Toxicology.
Information for this series is excerpted from the book length ATSDR
Toxicological Profiles and Public Health Statements. Each fact sheet serves as a quick and
easy to understand guide. Answers are provided to the most frequently asked
questions (FAQs) about exposure to hazardous substances found around hazardous
waste sites and the effects of exposure on human health.
IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) [http://193.51.164.11/default.html]
The IARC Monographs series are authoritative independent assessments by international experts of the carcinogenic risks posed to humans by a variety of agents, mixtures and exposures. Since its inception in 1972, the series has reviewed more than 850 agents, and IARC Monographs have become well-known for their thoroughness, accuracy and integrity. To aid in the selection of future topics, the program also monitors long-term carcinogenicity testing underway in various laboratories throughout the world and publishes the results on this web site as a Directory of Agents Being Tested for Carcinogenicity. This web site is searchable.
National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Database [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi]
PubMed is the National Library of Medicine's
search service that provides access to over 11 million citations in MEDLINE,
PreMEDLINE, and other related databases, with links to participating online
journals. A user can conduct
research on specific chemicals and some combinations of chemicals. In conjunction with a service called
Lonesome Doc a user can acquire these articles from a medical
library.
National Library of Medicine’s TOXNET (Toxicology
Data Network) [http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/]
This web site allows a user to search a cluster of databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related areas. Databases included on this site are: 1) Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) – a scientifically peer-reviewed database including human and animal toxicity, safety and handling, environmental fate, and more; 2) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) database of human health risk assessments, focusing on hazard identification and dose-response assessment; 3) Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System (CCRIS) – the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) database on carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, tumor promotion, and tumor inhibition; and 4) GENE-TOX – the EPA’s peer-reviewed mutagenicity test data.
New
Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services’ Right to Know Hazardous
Substance Fact Sheets [http://www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/rtkweb/rtkhsfs.htm]
Under
the New Jersey Labor and Community Right to Know Law, the New Jersey Department
of Health and Senior Services was required to produce Hazardous Substance Fact
Sheets. They have now published
over 1260 profiles of chemicals.
Over 920 of these have been put onto the Department’s web site. Designed for workplace use, we feel
these are the best and most reliable Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs). For each chemical these six-page fact
sheets give the following information:
• Hazard Summary (summary
of known health effects);
• Identification
(physical description of the chemical);
• Reason for Citation
(includes which regulations the chemical falls under and if it causes dangerous
health effects, such as cancer or genetic
damage);
• How to Determine if You
are Being Exposed;
• Workplace Exposure
Limits (gives the exposure limits set for the workplace by
regulations);
• Ways of Reducing
Exposure;
• Health Hazard
Information (goes into more detail than the hazard summary, and includes
information on acute health effects and chronic health effects, cancer
hazard, reproductive hazard, and other long-term effects);
• Medical (includes
information on medical testing and mixed exposures);
• Workplace Controls and
Practices (gives specific recommendations for engineering controls to reduce
exposure);
• Personal Protective
Equipment (including clothing, eye protection and respiratory
protection);
• Questions and
Answers;
• Definitions (explains
all the technical terms, acronyms or abbreviations and units of measure used in
the fact sheet);
• Fire
Hazards;
• Spills and Emergencies
(including the steps to take if the chemical is accidently
spilled);
• Handling and Storage
(including the chemicals with which this particular chemical is not
compatible);
• First Aid (including
for eye contact, skin contact and inhalation);
• Physical Data
(including vapor pressure and water solubility);
and
• Other Commonly Used
Names.
Sources of Publications
Environmental Working Group [http://www.ewg.org/]
The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) staff of
18 researchers, computer experts and writers produces dozens of headline‑making
reports each year based on original EWG analyses of data from government and
other sources. Be sure to check
their archive for reports dating back to 1996 on air pollution, drinking water
quality, enforcement, farm subsidies, pesticides, industrial toxicants,
transportation, and wetlands.
National Wildlife Federation [http://www.nwf.org/nwf/printandfilm/reports.html]
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is one of
the nation's largest member‑supported conservation groups. NWF has done extensive work on the
effects of toxicants on wildlife.
Natural Resources Defense Council [http://www.nrdc.org/]
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
website provides a broad-ranging perspective on what's happening to the global
environment. This omnibus site
includes news, legislative updates, scientific research, and policy analyses.
NRDC offers publications on clean air and energy; global warming; clean water;
oceans; wildlife and fish; parks, forests and wildlands; toxic chemicals and
health; nuclear weapons and waste; cities and green living; and environmental
legislation.
Visualizing the Relationship of Chemicals to
Human Health
Alaska Community Action on Toxics
[http://www.akaction.net/]
Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) has
mapped contaminated sites in Alaska, including military and other federal sites;
toxic sites identified by state government; and federal Superfund sites and
radioactive waste sites. When you
choose to see “all” sites at the same time, Alaska looks like it has a really
bad case of toxic measles, an industrially transmitted
disease.
Environmental Health Coalition, Toxic Free
Neighborhood Campaign Maps [http://www.environmentalhealth.org/tfnmaps.html]
The Environmental Health Coalition’s Toxic Free
Neighborhoods Campaign focuses primarily on the San Diego neighborhoods of
Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, Sherman Heights, National City and nearby
neighborhoods. However, it is a
model for what could be done elsewhere.
EHC has created a series of maps that show demographic data and toxic
pollution in these communities.
Maps are used to display lead in housing, respiratory hazards,
reproductive hazards, cancer risks, ethnicity, and income.
FactoryWatch [http://www.foe.co.uk/factorywatch/]
Factory Watch, sponsored by Friends of the Earth,
United Kingdom (UK), gives facts about industrial pollution in the UK, helping
citizens fight for a cleaner, healthier environment, and helping us all advocate
for more thorough and more up to date information on pollution from all
sources. By entering your postal
code, you can easily:
See the official pollution figures for your local
industry or factory; make local maps showing where, for example, cancer‑causing
chemicals are released; get information on the health hazards of particular
chemicals; and discover who controls pollution and how you can influence
them.
Global
Environmental Risk Map Network
[http://mapcruzin.com/global_toxmaps.htm]
The Clary Meuser Research Network (CMRN) has
performed environmental and demographic research, GIS [geographical information
systems] analysis, and developed WebMap projects for non‑profit environmental
organizations for the past four years. From this site you can examine maps that
they developed for organizations and local governments in 39 different states
and in several other countries.
Ironbound Community Corporation GIS Maps
[http://www.crp.cornell.edu/projects/ironbound/]
The Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) is a
nonprofit community‑based organization rooted in the ethnically diverse Newark,
N.J. neighborhood called Ironbound.
The organization’s GIS maps show individual hazards such as air and
toxics street by street and also show these hazards with demographic information
such as income and ethnicity.
Santa
Cruz Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI) [http://mapcruzin.com/scruztri/]
The Santa Cruz TRI is an interactive map-based
resource intended for use by citizens of this small California city. It includes U.S. EPA TRI [U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Toxics Release Inventory] releases and transfers
from 1987 through 1997 (most recent data available from EPA). The Santa Cruz TRI
also includes an extensive searchable right‑to‑know database and other resources
for communicating information about toxics.
Toxic
Hotshots [http://www.mapcruzin.com/svtc_maps/index.html]
Through the Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition’s
(SVTC) Groundwater Contamination Mapping and Environmental Justice Project web
site one can find: street level maps indicating groundwater contamination and
superfund sites (including site reports), site‑level demographic comparisons,
and county‑wide environmental justice maps shaded to indicate demographic
variations.
Pesticides
Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy [http://www.iatp.org/]
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's
(IATP) mission is to create environmentally and economically sustainable rural
communities and regions through sound agriculture and trade policy, including
pest control policies.
Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to
Pesticides [http://www.pesticide.org/]
The Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to
Pesticides (NCAP) works to protect people and the environment by advancing
healthy solutions to pest problems.
They publish a well‑respected quarterly Journal of Pesticide Reform, as well as
numerous factsheets on pesticides and alternatives for pest
control.
Pesticide Action Network North America
[http://www.panna.org/]
Since 1982, PANNA (Pesticide Action Network North
America) has campaigned to replace pesticides with ecologically sound
alternatives. PANNA links over 100 affiliated health, consumer, labor,
environment, progressive agriculture and public interest groups in Canada,
Mexico and the U.S. with thousands of supporters worldwide to promote healthier,
more effective pest management through research, policy development, education,
media, demonstrations of alternatives and international advocacy campaigns. PANNA’s web site offers numerous
resources on pesticides and alternative means of pest
control.
Pest
Management at the Crossroads [http://www.pmac.net/]
This site is maintained by Benbrook Consulting
Services (BCS) as a public service to those who are working to advance the
science and art of Integrated Pest Management. It includes information on
environmental, food safety and pest management issues.
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), including
Chlorine, Dioxin, and PCBs
Center
for Health, Environment, and Justice (CHEJ) [http://www.chej.org/]
The Center for
Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) -– the organization founded by Lois Gibbs
as a result of her experiences at Love Canal -- is conducting a national
campaign to reduce exposure to dioxin and has published an excellent
peer-reviewed report, American People’s Dioxin Report, available at this
site.
Greenpeace Toxics Campaign [http://www.greenpeace.org/~toxics/]
This website is maintained by Greenpeace
International, a global campaigning organization. It has an abundance of information on
POPs (persistant organic pollutants), including information on dioxin and PCBs
(polychlorinated biphenyls). From
this site, you can gain access to many of Greenpeace’s reports on these
toxicants.
Health
Care Without Harm [http://www.sustain.org/hcwh/]
Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a
collaborative campaign for environmentally responsible health care made up of
more than 250 organizations. HCWH’s mission is to transform the health care
industry so it is no longer a source of environmental harm by eliminating
pollution in health care practices without compromising safety or care. The
campaign looks at the production of dioxin from health care facilities that use
disposable polyvinyl chloride products.
This site also includes information on mercury.
Indigenous Environmental Network
[http://www.alphacdc.com/ien/]
The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) offers
the perspectives of indigenous peoples on environmental issues – perspectives
that eurocentric cultures would find enlightening and beneficial, we
believe. Because POPs spontaneously
move from warmer to colder regions, indigenous people of the far north are
particularly endangered by POPs released by industrial nations in the
mid-latitudes. IEN has been
representing indigenous perspectives at the international POPs
negotiations. The IEN web site
offers information on POPs, pesticides and radioactive materials, among other
environmental issues.
International POPs Elimination
Network [http://www.ipen.org/]
The International POPs Elimination Network is a
global network of public interest non‑governmental organizations united in
support of a common POPs Elimination Platform. The mission of IPEN, achieved
through its participating organizations, is to work for the global elimination
of persistent organic pollutants, on an expedited yet socially equitable
basis. This site has many links to
information on POPs, including information on PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)
and dioxins. IPEN’s POPs
elimination platform is available in English, French, Arabic, Spanish and
Russian.
Physicians for Social
Responsibility [http://www.psr.org/]
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is
working to create a world free of nuclear weapons, global environmental
pollution, and gun violence. PSR says of itself, “The active conscience of
American medicine, PSR uses its members' expertise and professional leadership,
influence within the medical community and strong links to policy makers to
address this century's greatest threats to human welfare and
survival.”
World
Wildlife Fund [http://www.worldwildlife.org/toxics/]
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is dedicated to
protecting the world's wildlife and wildlands and recognizes that controlling
pollution is important to conserving biodiversity. WWF’s efforts to increase
scientific understanding of toxic chemicals and to restrict or ban harmful
chemicals stem from evidence that some chemicals can undermine the basic
functions of entire ecosystems, as well as harm wildlife and human health. WWF has done some of the path‑breaking
work on endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Waste Reduction, Pollution Prevention and Clean
Production
Clean
Production Action [http://www.most.org.pl/cpa/cpa.html]
Clean Production Action (CPA) is an international
non‑profit network dedicated to the advancement of sustainable production and
consumption, taking the concepts and tools of Cleaner Production beyond the
present process modification and emissions reduction focus.
International Campaign for Responsible
Technology
The Campaign for Responsible Technology (CRT), an
international network initiated by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition [http://www.svtc.org/], is a diverse
network of organizations and environmental, worker/labor safety and health,
economic development and social justice activists who promote broader grassroots
participation in the design and development of new technologies as the computer
industry rapidly moves into an increasingly dominant position world-wide. You can subscribe to the listserv of the
Campaign for Responsible Technology at http://www.svtc.org/listserv.htm. A pamphlet on Clean Production strategy
can be found at http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/strat.htm.
Lowell
Center for Sustainable Production [http://www.uml.edu/centers/LCSP]
The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production has
done important work developing and promoting environmentally sound systems of
production, healthy work environments, and economically viable work
organizations. This site provides
skeletal information on their projects.
Toxics
Use Reduction Institute [http://www.turi.org/]
The Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute
(TURI) was created to help Massachusetts businesses reduce their use of toxic
chemicals. To help achieve this goal, the Institute’s web site provides
information about many aspects of less toxic technologies and
chemistries.
Emerging Public Policies
International Joint Commission [http://www.ijc.org/]
Although the International Joint Commission (IJC)
is not a citizen’s group, the IJC pioneered many of the modern environmental
policies that are replacing the old “prove harm” approach to environmental
protection – and it did so in direct response to citizen concerns about
toxicants in the Great Lakes ecosystem.
The IJC was created by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty between the U.S.
and Canada to oversee international matters related to the Great Lakes. In 1978, the two nations signed the
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which the IJC oversees. In 1992, in its Sixth Biennial Report,
the IJC wrote, "Are humans and our
environment in danger from persistent toxic substances now? Are future
generations in danger? Based on a review of scientific studies and other recent
information, we believe the answer to both questions is yes."
In its Sixth and Seventh Biennial Reports the IJC
proposed and formally adopted several of the hazardous materials policies
described earlier in this paper, making the IJC a source of wisdom for
grass-roots environmental activists, world-wide. See the Sixth Biennial report
(1992) at http://www.ijc.org/comm/6bre.html and the Seventh Biennial report (1994)
at http://www.ijc.org/comm/7bre.html.
Science and Environmental Health Network [http://www.sehn.org/]
The Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN) began in 1993 when members of the scientific community met to respond to virulent attacks on the environmental agenda. It was clear that science was being misrepresented and misused in environmental public policy. SEHN is interested in developing policies of prudence rather than policies of degrade-and-cleanup; evaluating the abuses of risk assessment and cost benefit analysis; and assessing strategies for responding to the misuse of science in public policy decision-making. SEHN's website has information on the precautionary principle, genetically modified organisms, and public interest science.
Occupational Safety and
Health
The
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
(MassCOSH) [http://www1.shore.net/%7Emasscosh/welcome.htm]
MassCosh is a coalition of approximately 50
unions together with over 100 health and legal professionals serving eastern and
central Massachusetts. MassCOSH’s website has information on reproductive
hazards on the job as well as indoor air quality problems in
schools.
New
York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) [http://www.nycosh.org/]
NYCOSH provides technical assistance, training
and education about workplace health and safety hazards to workers, unions,
community members and organizations. NYCOSH’s website provides news and
information about on‑the‑job safety and health, plus hundreds of links to more
information that can be used to enhance occupational safety. One can find information on basic
health and safety rights; workers’ compensation; strategies for safer
workplaces; how to file a health and safety complaint; health and safety laws
and regulations; and occupational hazards.
Southeast Michigan Coalition on Occupational
Safety and Health (SEMCOSH) [http://www.semcosh.org/]
SEMCOSH was founded in 1981. It is a coalition of
individual workers, local unions, health and legal professionals united around
the principle that work should not be dangerous to workers health. SEMCOSH’s
website includes information on filing OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act)
complaints; ergonomics; the Michigan Right to Know law; and
whistleblowing.
This list was compiled by Maria B. Pellerano (maria@rachel.org).