Overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that exposure to chemicals and pollutants in our environment affects our health, increases risk of disease, and jeopardizes children’s development. Public policies determine what and how much we are exposed to and thus, how much our health is at risk. To protect public health, policies must be created using the best … Continue reading How to prioritize science and health at EPA
Rules and regulations that govern our air, water, food, and the products in our homes should be based on the best available scientific evidence. EPA, however, is using a faulty systematic review method that can exclude critical evidence and have negative consequences for public health. One vital step in a systematic review is to assess … Continue reading How EPA’s method for assessing study quality is designed to exclude critical evidence
Join us for a new webinar series that will provide you with the latest science to help your patients Learn from top scientists and experts about the impacts of environmental exposures and toxics on reproductive health, pregnancy, and development. “Generation Chemical: How Environmental Exposures Are Affecting Reproductive Health and the Environment” is a dynamic webinar … Continue reading Learn how toxics are affecting this generation and the next
Versions of this post appear in both English and Spanish languages below. October 8 is Children’s Environmental Health Day, started by the Children’s Environmental Health Network four years ago to bring attention to how environmental policies influence children’s health and development. PRHE and our new EaRTH Center are co-sponsors. Children’s health and the environment are … Continue reading What the science says about children’s environmental health
Worldwide, communities near industrial operations, major highways, freight terminals and ports are highly exposed to multiple sources of chemical pollution. Historically, scientists have investigated hazardous exposures using a single-chemical approach that does not capture the health impact of cumulative exposures. Communities, health researchers, and the National Academies of Science are calling on scientists to use … Continue reading The need to study multiple chemical exposures, not one at a time
To transform current approaches to studying harmful environmental pollutants that undermine health and human development, and contribute to chronic disease, today we launched the new UCSF Environmental Research and Translation for Health (EaRTH) Center. It is critical that we accelerate the pace of discovery of harmful chemical exposures and improve strategies for prevention, particularly for … Continue reading Launching the UCSF EaRTH Center to Reimagine Environmental Health Science
UPDATE: EPA is considering dropping TSCA systematic review’s study scoring system, according to Inside EPA. Deputy Director of the Risk Assessment Division within EPA’s toxics office, Stan Barone, criticized the numeric scoring system during an August 24 meeting of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) committee that is peer reviewing EPA’s systematic … Continue reading Wolf in sheep’s clothing, part 2: How EPA’s TSCA systematic review method is threatening public health
Versions of this post appear in both English and Spanish languages below. The science is clear: harmful chemicals in our environment put healthy pregnancies and fetal development at risk. To help health-care professionals and their patients better understand how chemicals affect health—and what they can do about it—UCSF’s Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment … Continue reading 10 ways to avoid toxic chemicals
Versions of this post appear in both English and Spanish languages below. Although phased out about 15 years ago, toxic flame-retardant chemicals, called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), are still showing up in high levels among pregnant women and their fetuses in California, according to our study published on July 22, 2020, in Scientific Reports. In … Continue reading Yesterday’s flame retardants in today’s bodies
In 2016, after careful analysis, and extensive internal and external peer review, and public comment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that inhalation of ethylene oxide is “carcinogenic to humans.” Despite no new evidence that would alter EPA’s findings, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) just finalized a dangerously flawed report claiming that … Continue reading Texas ignores dangers of ethylene oxide in flawed report
