Connections are being confirmed by sound science between devastating chronic illness and
environmental pollutants found outdoors
and in homes and other buildings.
Current health problems and epidemics, coupled with accumulating ecological/
environmental science has spurred serious academic research into whether links to and causes of diseases are directly related to contaminants in our environments. Environmental Health Perspectives , a print periodical with free article access through its superior online ezine, ehp (www.ehponline.org), is dedicated to developing understanding of the connections between environmental conditions and human health through objective publishing of the latest in the best peer-reviewed science research.
An example of reporting in the current May 2006 ezine issue is "Traffic, Susceptibility, and Childhood Asthma" which discusses the findings of the 13-year Children's Health Study conducted in Southern California, which reports that air pollution and proximity to busy roads directly affects lung growth and development and the prevalence of asthma in school-aged children. Another example is the new study published by The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Health and the USDHHS, which reports on the latest assessment of the potential for health problems caused by climate variability.
ehp has many convenient features, most significantly, the reports can be read as abstracts only or as full text online in HTM or as PDF files. However, the latest "In-Press" abstracts are only available in full text in PDF. Archived issues are fully accessible. Other important features are that ehp provides source lists and an EHP Student Edition complete with lessons to help teachers with environmental health studies.
A free e-mail newsletter subscription is available. All online reports are free; also readers have the option of purchasing and subscribing to print copies of EHP , both current and past issues.