Interested in connections between technology, health and environmental issues?

Sustainable development and the need for resilient operations are now part of mainstream thinking.  The interconnected nature of human health and the environments we live in is obvious to most people.  The potential impacts of uncontrollable climate change and the instability it could produce in our daily lives (e.g., increasingly unpredictable weather) are hard to ignore.

Actions that damage the natural environment eventually come back to haunt us, both as direct health impacts in the form of synthetic/toxic materials present in our foods and in our bodies and as reduced quality of life, throughout our lives, due to the degradation of the places we live in and work at.

However, in my conversations about these issues, I often hear concerns about the lack of access to unbiased and reputable sources of information.

Here are a few of my favorite sources of information regarding environment and health.  Happy readings!

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Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  ATSDR serves the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances.

American Chemistry Council (ACC)
The American Chemistry Council’s mission is to deliver business value through exceptional advocacy using best-in-class member performance, political engagement, communications and scientific research. We are committed to sustainable development by fostering progress in our economy, environment and society.

American Public Health Association (APHA)
The American Public Health Association is the oldest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world and has been working to improve public health since 1872. The Association aims to protect all Americans, their families and their communities from preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the United States. APHA represents a broad array of health professionals and others who care about their own health and the health of their communities.

Bioenergy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Biomass Program works with industry, academia and national laboratories on a balanced portfolio of research in biofeedstocks and conversion technologies.
Biomass can be farm-grown trees, agricultural crops or residues, forestry residue, municipal wood residues, animal waste, fibers or anything organic that is available on a recurring or renewable basis.

Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for Biological Diversity works through science, law and creative media to secure a future for all species, great or small, hovering on the brink of extinction.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP)
Office of Prevention through Healthcare, Health Risk Assessment– uses policy tools to gain the maximum preventive benefit from the clinical system and to integrate clinical care with community health interventions.

Climate Science
RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists.

DEFRA
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the UK government department responsible for policy and regulations on the environment, food and rural affairs.

Economic Policy Institute
The Economic Policy Institute’s mission is to inform and empower individuals to seek solutions that ensure broadly shared prosperity and opportunity.

Ecosystem Marketplace
The Ecosystem Marketplace, a project of Forest Trends, is a leading source of news, data, and analytics on markets and payments for ecosystem services (such as water quality, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity).

Environmental Health News (EHN)
The mission of Environmental Health News is to advance the public’s understanding of environmental health issues by publishing its own journalism and providing access to worldwide news about a variety of subjects related to the environment and health of humans, wildlife and ecosystems.  EHN is a publication of Environmental Health Sciences, found at http://www.ehsciences.org/.

Environmental Working Group (EWG)
The mission of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment. EWG is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded in 1993 by Ken Cook and Richard Wiles.

Encyclopedia of Life (EOL)
The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) began in 2007 with the bold idea to provide “a webpage for every species.” EOL brings together trusted information from resources across the world such as museums, learned societies, expert scientists, and others into one massive database and a single, easy-to-use online portal.

Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol)
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions.  The GHG Protocol, a decade-long partnership between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), is working with businesses, governments, and environmental groups around the world to build a new generation of credible and effective programs for tackling climate change.

Health Affairs
Health Affairs is the leading journal of health policy thought and research.  The peer-reviewed journal was founded in 1981 under the aegis of Project HOPE, a nonprofit international health education organization.  Health Affairs explores health policy issues of current concern in both domestic and international spheres.

International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI)
The International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) is a nonprofit, worldwide foundation established in 1978 to advance the understanding of scientific issues relating to nutrition, food safety, toxicology, risk assessment, and the environment. By bringing together scientists from academia, government, industry, and the public sector, ILSI seeks a balanced approach to solving problems of common concern for the well being of the general public.

Life Cycle Analysis-Europa
European Commission’s information hub on life cycle thinking based data, tools and services

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was called for by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2000. Initiated in 2001, the objective of the MA was to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and the scientific basis for action needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of those systems and their contribution to human well-being.

Nanowerk– nanotechnology and nanoscience resources

National Academies Press (NAP)
The National Academies Press (NAP) was created by the National Academies to publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council, all operating under a charter granted by the Congress of the United States.

National Renewable Energy laboratory (NREL)
NREL is the only federal laboratory dedicated to the research, development, commercialization and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)
The NCEAS mission is to advance the state of ecological knowledge through the search for general patterns and principles in existing data, organize and synthesize ecological information in a manner useful to researchers, resource managers, and policy makers addressing important environmental issues, and influence the way ecological research is conducted by promoting a culture of synthesis, collaboration, and data sharing.

Product Stewardship Institute (PSI)
The Product Stewardship Institute envisions a society in which products are responsibly manufactured, used, and managed after use to conserve resources and protect the environment and human health.  PSI’s mission is to pursue initiatives to ensure that all those involved in the lifecycle of a product share responsibility for reducing its health and environmental impacts, with producers bearing primary financial responsibility.

Public Library of Science (PLoS)
A nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization whose mission is to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication.

R&D Magazine
R&D Magazine provides timely, informative news, and useful technical articles that broaden our readers’ knowledge of the research and development industry and improve the quality of their work.

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on Sustainability

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on Waste

World Resources Institute (WRI)
The World Resources Institute is a global environmental think tank that goes beyond research to put ideas into action.