ASrIA - NGO Activities and Information Centers

CPA is a US non-profit organization that promotes the use of products that are safer and cleaner across their life cycle for consumers, workers and communities, which includes eliminating toxic wastes and inputs and promoting the use of renewable energy and materials. Through partnership with state-level organizations, it undertakes serious analysis on research, policy and market developments in an aim to identify and promote the best technical, academic and industry expertise on 'clean production'. Its current projects include 'Safer Product Projects' (www.safer-products.org) to generate public support for safe chemicals; and 'Green Chemistry' working with companies to substitute hazardous chemicals in products and production processes.

CHE was initiated at a meeting of the San Francisco Medical Society in March 2002 and co-sponsored by Commonwealth, a health and environmental research institute in California. CHE is a diverse partnership of individuals and organizations working collectively to advance knowledge and effective action to address growing concerns about the links between human health and environmental factors. CHE's primary activities include: (1) sharing scientific research information about the links between environmental contaminants and human disease; (2) fostering interdisciplinary and inclusive collaboration among diverse constituencies interested in those links; and (3) facilitating appropriate actions to reduce exposure to contaminants and to improve care of those affected. The CHE Toxicant and Disease Database provide a searchable database that summarizes links between chemical contaminants and approximately 180 human diseases or conditions.

EWG is a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 1993. It has been undertaking environmental investigations, particularly related to human health and the environmental issues. EWG's research is based on not only government data, legal documents, and scientific studies, but also its own laboratory test results, ultimately aiming to expose threats to human health and the environment and to help politicians to shape and strengthen policies and regulations. Its website offers practical guide information on how to avoid chemical exposure in our daily life.

Established in 1999 and incorporated in the UK, EurActiv is an independent media portal fully dedicated to EU policy affairs. It is the online home for 'Community of EU Actors', where several thousand European organisations and companies are actively participating. EurActiv's coverage of EU affairs concentrates on policy positions by mostly non-institutional EU Actors trying to influence policies already in the pre-legislative phase, before a Commission proposal. Its aim is to deepen EU policy debates, both within and outside the institutions as well as upstream of decisions. EurActiv's vast document database system provides useful links to all relevant documents and policy positions including hazardous chemicals related issues.

Founded in 1972 as an international association, CEFIC represents about 29,000 large, medium and small European chemical companies that employ about 1.3 million people and account for nearly a third of world chemical production. Its main task is to work closely with its member chemical companies, so that the industry gains the trust and understanding of its stakeholders and to help the industry to present an effective one-voice advocacy in the development of a sound legal framework for chemicals in Europe. Its website helps us to understand the positions and actions taken by the chemical industry as supposed to related EU policies and regulations before and after legislation.

EPHA is an international non-profit association registered in Belgium, representing over 100 non-governmental and other not-for-profit organisations working in support of health in Europe. EPHA aims to promote and protect the health interests of Europeans and to strengthen the dialogue between the EU institutions, citizens and NGOs in support of healthy public policies. Its main activities include: (1) monitoring the policy making process within the EU institutions and maximising the flow of information concerning public health policy developments; (2) promoting greater awareness amongst European citizens and NGOs about the policy developments so that they can contribute to the policy making process and take practical action; and (3) supporting collaboration and partnerships between NGOs.

GreenFacts is a Belgian non-profit non-advocacy organization created in December 2001. Common concern shared upon its foundation was that reliable scientific information should be the basis for constructive debates between stakeholders and for informed decisions on health and environment issues, but that those science reports were usually difficult to find and hard to read being long, complex, and written in expert jargon. GreenFacts aims to bring complex scientific consensus reports on health and the environment to the reach of non-specialists such as journalists, decision makers, stakeholders, teachers, and concerned individuals, providing an essential basis for constructive debates and informed decisions.

Greenpeace is a globally networked non-profit organisation that has been campaigning against environmental degradation since its foundation in 1971. In pursuing its mission, that is to expose environmental wrongdoings and to challenge government and corporations about their failure to protect environment, Greenpeace has been campaigning on eight main areas, one of which is to 'eliminate toxic chemicals.' Greenpeace's current focus is on stopping toxic waste trade including e-waste mostly destined to the poorer part of the world such as Asia. Its website provides up-to-date information about various toxic chemical related issues.

NET is a non-profit, non-partisan organization established in 1994 to inform American citizens of environmental problems and how they affect health and the quality of life. NET's website is a center for its public education campaigns as well as an access point to the latest scientific studies related to complex environmental issues. NET's activities focus on localizing the impacts of national problems, as well as highlighting opportunities for American citizens to engage in the policymaking process.

This web site was created following the success of the book 'Our Stolen Future', which was published in 1996, and has been a center for a variety of information raising awareness ranging from scientific results and findings to ongoing policy debates related to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Its main goal is to provide the public with information to gain insights into what new scientific findings mean in a broader context, resources about the existing scientific literature, and links of the webs that carry information about EDCs.

PSR, founded in 1961, is a non-profit advocacy organization well known for its Nobel Peace Prize winning campaign for building public awareness and pressure to end the nuclear arms race in 1985. In the early 1990s, PSR expanded its mission to include environmental health, addressing issues such as global climate change, toxic degradation of the environment, and general pollution problems. Its strategy for achieving its mission is (a) to educate and activate the medical and health community and the public, through research, analysis, collaboration, and targeted communications and (b) advocacy. Its website provides in-depth reports and resources on the issues related to toxic chemicals and health effects.

Since 1998, SEHN has been the leading proponent in the US of the "Precautionary Principle" as a new basis for environmental and public health policy. SEHN has worked with issue driven organizations, national environmental health coalitions, municipal and state governments, and several NGO teams to implement precautionary policies at local and state levels. Its mission is to engage communities and governments in the effective application of science to protect and restore public and ecosystem health.

SVTC was formed in 1982 as a diverse organization engaged in research, advocacy, and grassroots organizing to promote human health and environmental justice in response to the rapid growth of the high-tech industry. SVTC has played a leading role in holding the high-tech industry accountable and shifting it towards toxic-free recyclable products, strong worker and community protections, and technological innovations for environmental sustainability. Its website provides a unique set of information related to the hi-tech sector, ranging from toxic & health issues to corporate environmental policy and performance.

Established in 1961, WWF operates in more than 100 countries with its mission to: (a) stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and (b) build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. It is currently funding around 2,000 conservation projects around the globe. WWF's mission also recognizes that controlling pollution is important to conserving biodiversity, which naturally motivates its activities to ban toxic chemicals used in consumer products. Through the Toxic Chemicals Programme, WWF investigates toxic chemicals and their relationship to biodiversity and human health, works to phase out and ban chemicals that threaten life on Earth, and seeks to identify and promote safe, effective, and affordable alternatives. WWF also actively campaigned to influence the content of the much debated EU REACH legislation through its "DetoX Campaign".

Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) is the peer-reviewed journal of the United States' National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The website provides a research engine for the past and present articles and information provided through the publication. Its journals provide more scholarly perspective and specific research data about the interrelationships between the environment and human health.

Environmental Treaties and Resources Indicators (ENTRI) is a comprehensive online search engine for finding information about environmental treaties and national level data on more than 200 countries. The ENTRI Service is funded on the basis on the institutional contributions such as the World Conservation Union, UNEP, the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands, & Parks, and the Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre.

HealthfinderŽ, solely funded by the US government, is a free portal on reliable information about a whole host of health issues, developed and coordinated by the US Department of Health and Human Services together with other federal agencies. It provides links not only to a vast range of information but also to web sites, carefully selected from over 1,500 health-related government or non-government organizations.

RoHS-News.com is a web-based information provider on RoHS and WEEE news releases and information for the electronics industry. Over 1,200 RoHS and WEEE related articles are available in its archive.