Following is a partial list of online resources that I have found particularly helpful in researching the environmental health questions we face today:
www.womenshealthandenvironment.org/toolkit
This is a great resource that I received at a conference on this topic in Boston in October 2007. It is a comprehensive starting point for learning more about food, plastics, cosmetics, water, furniture, homebuilding, housecleaning, pesticides and much more.
www.ewg.org
A primary focus of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is to use the power of public information to protect human health and the environment. They tackle this mission through various angles, one of which is by leading the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. I have found them to be an extraordinary resource to learn more about consumer safety issues, with new reports surfacing all the time.
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
Managed by the Environmental Working Group, you will find here a repository of more than 25,000 beauty products cross-referenced with 50 toxicity databases and rated for their potential hazard to human health.
http://searchforthecause.org/documents/dirty_dozen.pdf
This is the Teens for Safe Cosmetics’ list of the dirty dozen chemical categories to watch out for in beauty products.
www.searchforthecause.org/documents/greenAlternativesCS2.pdf
You can find here the Teens for Safe Cosmetics’ list of some companies that produce safer beauty products.
www.safecosmetics.org
This organization works to protect the health of consumers by advocating that the cosmetic and personal care products industry follow safer standards to avoid chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other serious health concerns.
www.ourstolenfuture.org
This web site provides regular updates about the cutting edge of science related to endocrine disruption.
www.sehn.org
The Science and Environmental Health Network site is particularly interesting for those wanting to understand more about the Precautionary Principle and the need for “transforming the law for the 21st century.”
www.seventhgeneration.com
While this is a Web site to promote their cleaning products, I recommend it because the people at Seventh Generation have written an incredibly helpful resource, Naturally Clean, to help consumers understand about the toxic dangers associated with household cleaners. The site shares a great deal of the book’s information with consumers in easy-to-digest doses.
www.organicconsumers.org
This is a fantastic resource for food topics, as well as anything relating to the organic industry, including cotton, clothing, beauty products etc.
www.centerforfoodsafety.org
This is a comprehensive resource for insights on the American food industry. It is informative and action-oriented as you can sign petitions against growth hormones in our milk, the imminent sale of cloned foods and other dangers.
www.cehn.org
The Children’s Environmental Health network is a national multi-disciplinary organization whose mission is to protect the fetus and the child from environmental health hazards and promote a healthy environment.
www.healthychildrenproject.org
This is a group that offers information that reveals how environmental factors may impact developing fetuses, newborns and young children.
www.allergykids.com
Founded by mother of four in Colorado, Robyn O’Brien, this site is an excellent repository of knowledge regarding the growing epidemic of food allergies suffered by children.
www.watoxics.org/safer-products
This site provides a great short-cut to find some safer recommendations for many categories associated with child rearing.
www.care2.com www.treehugger.com www.thegreenguide.com www.storyofstuff.com www.safemilk.org
Cool green community site, especially helpful if you want to learn more about supporting legislative change, and make a difference by getting informed and signing petitions online.
Another great green living resource, with a fabulous “how to” guide to make every facet of your life more earth-friendly and sustainable.
Published by National Geographic Society, this site is rich with information about greener living choices, product references and environmental health research.
I loved this online lecture by Annie Leonard. Her approach to explaining our nation’s extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposition of endless amounts of “stuff” will inspire you to take pause before tossing that next pile of soon-to-be-headed-the-dump items into your basket.
This site, managed by MOMS, an acronym for the organization called Making Our Milk Safe, is an excellent resource on environmental relationships to the health and safety of young children, covering topics such as contaminants in breast milk, safety hazards of flame retardant furniture, dangers associated with plastic bottles and others.
