Resources for Providers and Patients

This chapter lists environmental health resources for providers and patients.

For Providers

Many resources are available on environmental health and reproductive toxicants. Providers should investigate these resources for their own education and to have ready access to information for patients. A good starting place is ARHP’s Reproductive Health and the Environment Topic Area. The site provides news articles, fact sheets, research updates, links to other organizations, and clinician resources, including:

• Links to the Environmental Impacts on Reproductive Health curriculum, Foundations of Science and Pesticide Exposure, in the Curricula Organizer for Reproductive Health Education (CORE);
• Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians: Fish Consumption to Promote Good Health and Minimize Contaminants;
• Environmental Reproductive Health Resources for Health Care Providers.

In addition to those already discussed in this monograph, a number of other clinician-oriented resources are available to educate and raise awareness, which will aid in patient counseling. Those resources include:

• The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a membership organization for physicians who specialize in the environmental health and safety of workers, workplaces, and environments;
• “Critical Windows of Development,” an online tool provided by The Endocrine Disruption Exchange that shows a timeline of human embryonic/fetal development and features animal research data on low-dose EDC exposure and altered health outcomes;
• EnviRN, a Web site hosted by the University of Maryland School of Nursing, which supports nurses in promoting environmental health in homes, schools, workplaces and communities;
• The Environmental Working Group Web site, which includes several tools related to toxicant exposures through consumer products and food, as well as general information about environmental chemicals and contaminants;
• The Natural Resources Defense Council Web site, which has significant information about methylmercury and other chemicals;
• Physicians for Social Responsibility Web site, which includes a Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit; and
• The University of California-San Francisco Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, which works at the intersection of science, medicine, policy, and community.

Local environmental health specialists also may be helpful sources of information.

For Patients

There are many resources available for patients to help them better understand these issues and take steps to reduce exposure to toxicants. Below is a sample of resources health care providers could share with their patients.

The ARHP Reproductive Health and the Environment Topic Area provides valuable patient education resources, including:

• Health Matters patient fact sheets:
  • The Connection Between Your Health and the Environment: Tips and Tools for Health and Home; and
  • Healthy Fish, Healthy Families.

Several national organizations publish reliable patient education materials about topics related to environmental exposures:

• Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE), which provides many of its resources in Arabic, French, Russian, and Spanish;
• The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which includes a product review that provides an evaluation of the safety of specific brands of consumer products;
• Environmental Working Group, who create valuable tools such as wallet cards, phone applications, and searchable databases;
• Healthy Child, Healthy World, who expand awareness and understanding of environmental hazards to children’s health;  
• The March of Dimes Web site, which covers seafood intake and other topics related to preconception care, including alcohol consumption and vitamins and minerals during pregnancy
• The Natural Resources Defense Council Web site, including the Green Living section, which provides valuable consumer information;
• Planned Parenthood^® Federation of America patient fact sheets on multiple exposures (available early 2010);
• Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a coalition of diverse groups united by their common concern about toxic chemicals;
• University of California-San Francisco’s Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment’s FASTEP Program: “Toxic Matters”—a brochure that provides guidance for patients on avoiding harmful environmental exposures;
• Women’s Voices for the Earth, which engages women to advocate for the right to live in a healthy environment and provides materials in Spanish.