News Releases
April 5, 2006
New Web Site Provides Information on Environmental Health
Seattle – The Collaborative on Health and the Environment – Washington (CHE-WA) launched a new website today containing environmental health information on Washington State.
The site summarizes information on chronic diseases and disabilities and environmental quality in Washington State, and contains links and references to about 500 data sources. It deals with diverse topics such as asthma, urban sprawl & health, climate change, pesticides, adult and childhood cancer, contaminants in air, water and soil, and learning & developmental disabilities.
Dr. Kate Davies, chair of the Collaborative’s Research and Information Working Group and Core Faculty in Environment & Community at Antioch University Seattle, announced the website’s debut at today’s Toxics in Puget Sound Forum, at Town Hall.
“This is the first website of its type in the country to offer such a comprehensive picture of health and environmental quality at a state level,” she says. “It takes complex scientific information and makes it understandable by the lay-person”.
Elise Miller, executive director of the Washington State-based Institute for Children's Environmental Health and chair of CHE-WA adds: “This new website will help anyone interested in health and environmental quality in Washington State. Providing access to this information is a first step at ensuring that we make decisions that allow our children and future generations to reach their fullest potential”.
The website aims to provide information to health researchers, health-care providers, health-affected groups, nonprofits, environmental health and justice advocates, interested citizens and the media who want to learn more about how the environment can affect health.
A study released by Dr. Davies in 2005 showed that environmental diseases and disabilities cost Washington State more than $2 billion a year in healthcare and related costs.
To reach the new Web site, visit http://washington.chenw.org/RIgroup/
For information about the Toxics in Puget Sound Forum, contact Heather Trim,
People For Puget Sound, 206.382.7007 X215
About Antioch
At Antioch University Seattle, adult learners find individualized, innovative programs with a commitment to academic excellence, community service and social justice. Antioch Seattle is one of six campuses of Antioch University, founded in 1852 in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Horace Mann, noted abolitionist and first president of Antioch College, gave a charge to the class of 1859 that is repeated to each Antioch graduating class: "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”
About the Collaborative on Health and the Environment – Washington
The Collaborative on Health and the Environment – Washington (CHE-WA) is a state network of over 270 researchers, healthcare providers, health-affected groups, environmental health and justice advocates and other concerned citizens committed to addressing environmental health issues linked to chronic health concerns in Washington State. The Collaborative’s overarching goal is to promote the cross-pollination of ideas and opportunities between different sectors concerned with environmental contributors to chronic health problems in order to create a safe and healthy future for all in the Northwest.
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