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SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH ARE DEPENDENT ON A SAFE AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

SF Bay Area PSR has joined environmental and social justice organizations in California and across the country to call attention to the threat to public health from global warming to the proliferation of pollutants in our air, land, and water. We are engaged in educating the public, decision-makers and health professionals on the effects of environmental toxicants on children’s neurodevelopmental disabilities, pesticides and health, the health effects of global warming, and the health effects of persistent organic pollutants. We advocate for the reduction of environmental toxicants at their sources. We work to create healthy schools to protect our children’s health through outreach and education and effective legislation. We call for the reduction and eventual elimination of dioxin, persistent organic pollutants (POPS) and other toxicants from our environment and advocate a drastic reduction of medical waste incineration.

Currently we are working on several environmental health projects:

  • In Harm’s Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development, which is an education and outreach project to health care professionals throughout the Bay Area.

  • As members of the international coalition, Health Care Without Harm, we work to 1) reduce the use of environmental toxicants within the health care community, including polyvinyl chloride (pvc) plastic used in medical devices, 2) stop medical waste incineration; and 3) remove mercury containing devices from our health care institutions.

  • Health Effects of Global Warming, where we strive to educate the broader public about the health effects of global warming, with a specific focus on California.

  • Elimination of Mercury—in conjunction with local and national chapters, SF Bay Area PSR works to support policy positions that favor public health in the debate on mercury emissions and the environment. We have worked to promote cleaner energy and to significantly reduce mercury emissions from power plants. Read our consensus statement on mercury and public health. In 2003/2004, we partnered with PSR LA and the Department of Toxics Substance Control (DTSC) on a mercury outreach campaign to community clinics, providing them with training and free non-mercury blood pressure gauges and digital thermometers in exchange for their mercury-containing products.

  • Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit—SF Bay Area PSR in partnership with our sister chapter in Boston, is teaming up on an exciting new project that will bring practical tools on preventing exposures to toxic chemicals to pediatric and family care practices around the country. The Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit includes laminated desk and pocket reference guides for providers and patient handouts including “Prescription for Prevention” sheets and refrigerator magnets.

  • Healthier Foods in Health Care—In collaboration with Health Care Without Harm, SF Bay Area PSR is working on a Healthier Foods in Health Care campaign, which supports local hospitals interested in reviewing their current food procurement practices and taking steps to improve the food choices that they are providing for staff, patients, and the community. The food-purchasing decisions that the health care industry makes not only affect the health of the people who will be consuming the food in their facilities, they also can have a profound effect on the environment and the direction of U.S. agricultural practices.

    How food is produced and distributed affects its nutritional quality, the public’s health, our shared environment and resources, and the social and economic fabric of our rural communities. The decisions that we as a society make about what to eat and where our food comes from can influence the health of our food system, particularly if large institutions make the shift to demanding healthier foods from distributors, buying more of their food products from local, small farms that are ecologically sound and socially responsible, and modeling dietary patterns that can help prevent disease. Hospitals and health care systems can play an important leadership role by setting a standard for other institutions to follow.

We have been successful at moving environmental health issues within the California medical community, including the passage of several resolutions within the California Medical Association. We also have a number of publications dealing with environmental health.