ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

• Major Reports and Publications

• Tools and Research

• Organizations

• Environmental Justice

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Major Reports 

Alaska Dietary Survey: 1956-1961
by Christine A. Heller, Ph.D. and Edward M. Scott, Ph.D. Public Health Service Publication No. 999-AH-2

Annual Arctic Report Cards
An international team of research scientists has created this peer-reviewed website which tracks multiple changes in the arctic environment. The Report Card is organized by NOAA and will be updated annually. 

Current State & Trends Assessment: Polar Systems, Chapter 25: Polar Systems by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment  
This chapter discusses the impact of polar climate change on human, animal and biodiversity. Contains longitudinal data about Arctic regions, climate change, and biodiversity. Discussions on human impacts and contamination of the Arctic region are presented. This chapter is part of an assessment to study the impact humans have on ecosystems. (PDF size: 994kb)

Environmental Health Risks of the Arctic Assessed
The summary report of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment and Programme. The full article can be found in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 2002 Nov 61(4):300-318. (PDF size: 37kb)

The First International Polar Year, 1881-1884: The Arctic Environment in Historical Perspective
The records of the first IPY offer a rare glimpse of the circumpolar Arctic environment as it existed in the past. These observations collected so long ago now hold the potential to improve our understanding of historical climate variability and environmental change in the Arctic.

Northern Overexposure or pollution in the Arctic
Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 106, Number 2, February 1998

The tip of the iceberg: chemical contamination in the Arctic.
WWF International Arctic Programme, February 2005. (PDF size: 259kb)

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Environmental Impact Assessment
Traditional Ecological Knowledge is a cumulative body of knowledge and beliefs, handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment.

Tools and Research

Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT)
The only comprehensive data base of contaminated sites in Alaska with the mapping of 2,000 military, oil and gas, mining and other industrial sites.

Household Products Database
A consumer guide that provides information on the potential health effects of chemicals contained in more than 6,000 common household products used inside and around the home. This resource helps scientists and consumers learn about ingredients in brand-name products.

Environmental Health and Toxicology
This web site includes links to databases, bibliographies, tutorials, and other scientific and consumer-oriented resources.

Enviro-Health Links - Pesticide Exposure
This National Library of Medicine(NLM) Enviro-Health Links site addresses the relationship between pesticides and human health. The page provides links to selected web sites on pesticide exposure, as well as on the treatment and prevention of pesticide poisoning.

TOXMAP
A Geographic Information System (GIS) from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) that uses maps of the United States to help users visually explore data from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).

ToxTown
An interactive guide to toxic chemicals and environmental health risks you might encounter in everyday life, in everyday places. Tox Town is a project of the Specialized Information Services Division of the National Library of Medicine and was launched in October, 2002.

Where You Live
Enter your zip code and choose from four databases to find environmental information about your community.

Organizations

ANTHC - Division of Environmental Health and Engineering
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium works in partnership with Native communities to provide a comprehensive array of public health-based services statewide.

Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA)
An international project of the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), to evaluate and synthesize knowledge on climate variability, climate change, and increased ultraviolet radiation and their consequences.

Arctic Contaminants  
A three year grant which documents Alaska Native understandings of environmental changes.

Arctic Council Indigenous People's Secretariat
Located in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat (IPS) was established in 1994 to strengthen the involvement of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy.

Environment Canada
Implements the federal government's environmental mandate which covers the preservation and enhancement of the quality of the natural environment.

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) -- Climate Change News
Materials available on the site are designed to make policy makers, in particular, aware of not only the science of climate change and energy use patterns, but also of the many possible solutions that can lead to a more environmentally sustainable society.

Environment Health Program, State of Alaska

Anchorage - Environmental Services Division

GLOBIO: Global methodology for mapping human impacts on the biosphere
A UNEP program.

Healthy People 2010 - Environmental Health Focus Area
This site focuses on the six major topic areas within the Healthy People 2010 Environmental Health Focus Area: Outdoor Air Quality, Water Quality, Toxics and Wastes, Healthy Homes and Healthy Communities, Infrastructure and Surveillance, and Global Environmental Health.

Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN)
IEN was formed by grassroots Indigenous peoples and individuals to address environmental and economic justice issues. IEN's activities include building the capacity of Indigenous communities and tribal governments to develop mechanisms to protect sacred sites, land, water, air, natural resources, health of both people and all living things, and to build economically sustainable communities.

International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC)
The International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC) is an open-ended international research program designed to understand the future state of the Arctic System under anthropogenic stress. The driving force behind ISAC is the need to build understanding, improve capacity for predicting Arctic System changes, and develop necessary mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the adverse effects of such changes.

Many Strong Voices
A collaborative programme with the goal of promoting the well-being, security and sustainability of coastal communities in the Arctic and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the face of climate change, by bringing these regions together to take action on mitigation and adaptation.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
The mission of the NIEHS is to reduce the burden of human illness and disability by understanding how the environment influences the development and progression of human disease. To have the greatest impact on preventing disease and improving human health, the NIEHS focuses on basic science, disease-oriented research, global environmental health, and multidisciplinary training for researchers.

National Library of Medicine (NLM)
NLM, on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world's largest medical library. The Library collects materials and provides information and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care.

Photographic Comparisons of Alaskan Glaciers
This photographic collection from The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) features repeat photography of Alaskan glaciers, matching photos of glaciers taken as early as the 1890s with recent photos taken at the same physical location.

Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME)
PAME was established in 1993 with a mandate to address policy and non-emergency pollution prevention and control measures related to the protection of the Arctic marine environment.

Rural Alaska Sanitation Coalition

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment. Since 1970, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.

Environmental Justice

Enviro-Health Links - Environmental Justice
This National Library of Medicine (NLM) Enviro-Health Links site provides links and descriptions to environmental justice sites.

Social Equity and Environmental Justice This site from the University of Connecticut includes Case Studies, Reports, Commissions, and Resolutions

You can also search for your topic in:

• MEDLINEplus
• PubMed (with an arctic emphasis)