The Collaborative on Health and Environment (CHE)
The link between a safe environment and human health has long been accepted both intuitively and scientifically - we know about the adverse effects on humans of lead, mercury, asbestos, for instance, but now the debate is ranging far wider, between government, industry and health agencies, concerning a wide range of possible pollutants, what are safe levels for those pollutants, what is the effect of their interaction on human health etc. An organization, called the Collaborative on Health and Environment (CHE), was set up in March 2002 to bring together organizations concerned about these issues and to provide factual information, without partisan or political bias, so that we can all make informed decisions about what is acceptable and what is not. The CHE is a network of organizations and individuals concerned about environmental contaminants: their website www.cheforhealth.org, has links to many groups including patient organizations as well as children's environmental health, health professionals, religion and spiritual concerns, labor, community and international organizations. Their objective is to provide accurate information regarding environmental threats to health, to raise the level of public dialogue about these concerns and to research policy options. This is a citizen initiative for anyone concerned about protecting the health of current and future generations from environmental harm. Please check out the website.