Print this page
Email this pageSafeguarding Our Health
For more than four decades, Earthjustice has been at the forefront of safeguarding the fundamentals of human health—the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. These initiatives demonstrate our strong belief that everyone has a right to a healthy environment.
- Provide Clean Air and Water: Ensuring air and water quality for millions of Americans is at the core of our public health work.
- Prevent Toxic Exposure: In cities imperiled by industrial pollutants, such as mercury, we are closing industry loopholes and accelerating the clean-up of polluted sites and facilities.
In-Depth Resources: Campaigns
Learn about Earthjustice's work on health and toxics through these campaigns:
- Air Toxics
- |
- Fracking
- |
- Florida Algae
- |
- Pesticides
- Coal Ash
- |
- Household Cleaners
- |
- Mercury
- |
- All
Highlights:
Special Feature: 50 States United for Healthy Air
Report: Sick of Soot
Video: In The Shadow Of The StacksThe Right to Breathe
Clean air should be a fundamental right. Every year, many Americans young and old get sick because of air pollution. Thousands die. But our lungs don't have to be the dumping ground for dirty industries.
The technology to dramatically reduce harmful air pollution is available today, and major polluters should be required to use it. Not a decade from now. Now.
Highlights:
Fracking Runs Afoul of Hometown U.S.A.Fracking Gone Wrong: Finding a Better Way
Fracking (a.k.a., hydraulic fracturing, or industrial gas drilling) is a dangerous way of getting oil and gas and a shortsighted energy strategy.
It's poisoning our air and water. We can find a better way—one that protects our health and gives us clean, safe energy sources that never run out.
Highlights:
Clean Water for Florida
Many of the postcard-perfect blue waters that make Florida a tourist mecca are coming up green and choked with nasty, toxic algae.
The culprit behind this environmental and economic crisis? Pollution caused by inadequately treated sewage, manure and fertilizer.
Highlights:
Pesticides in the Air,
Kids at Risk
Each year, nearly one billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed into fields and orchards around the country.
But as the families who live nearby can tell you, those pesticides don't always stay in the fields and orchards.
Highlights:
Let The Sunshine In!Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant
It's time for cleaning product makers to step out of the shadows. Studies show links between chemicals in common household cleaners and respiratory irritation, asthma, and allergies.
But most manufacturers don't disclose their chemical ingredients. Earthjustice is working to change that.
Highlights:
Cleaning Up Mercury, Protecting Our Health
Cement kilns are some of the nation's biggest mercury polluters.
These huge industrial facilities spew thousands of pounds of mercury and millions of pounds of other toxic air pollutants into our air and water every year.
Highlights:
Coal Ash Contaminates Our Lives
Coal ash is the hazardous waste that remains after coal is burned. Dumped into unlined ponds or mines, the toxins readily leach into drinking water supplies.
Incredibly, ash and other coal combustion wastes are not subject to federal regulations.
Special Interactive Feature
50 States United for Healthy Air
Doctors, nurses, faith and tribal leaders, social justice advocates and affected citizens from all 50 states convened in Washington, D.C. to send a powerful message: Everyone has a right to breathe clean, healthy air.
The Clean Air Ambassadors met with members of Congress and the Obama administration to speak out for strong protections against pollution that is harmful to our health. Industry lobbyists and their allies in Washington, D.C. want to block these protections from taking effect. But our lives depend on clean air, and these ambassadors will demand that we get it.
Issue Area Spotlight
Explore two aspects of Earthjustice's work on safeguarding our health:
GMOs: Engineering An Environmental Disaster
Genetically engineered crops harm the environment by increasing pesticide use, creating pesticide resistant superweeds and contaminating conventional and organic crops.
Earthjustice is challenging the USDA's decision to allow genetically engineered sugar beets and alfalfa onto the market.
Sick of Soot: How The EPA Can Save Lives By Cleaning Up Fine Particle Air Pollution
The microscopic size of soot, also known as fine particulate matter, allows it to lodge deep within the lung. Diesel vehicles and equipment and coal-fired power plants are among the biggest sources of this pollution.
Despite recent improvements to air quality, soot still poses a major threat to public health.
Make a contribution
This is not just any child.
This is our future.
Earthjustice is using the courts to protect drinking water for hundreds of communities. It's just one of the ways we're safeguarding health, preserving our natural heritage and promoting a clean energy future. Join us today.
Recent Blog Posts
