Community Organizing Assistance

The Need to Know Initiative is an “action education” program to 1) inform and educate people on the adverse health effects of human exposure to toxics; and 2) for people to take positive actions to stop the production, use and release of hazardous chemicals.

Reducing Exposure to Hormone Disruptors

Hormone Disruptors are chemicals that mimic or disrupt the body's own natural hormones (also called endocrine disruptors). These chemicals have been linked to hormonal-related cancers, such as breast cancer and prostate cancers, reproductive problems, and developmental problems that affect children. Children can suffer mental, emotional and behavioral problems from toxic chemical exposure. See “Anthony Can't Read.” Some children are affected before they are born when their mothers are exposed during pregnancy.

Promoting The Precautionary Principle

The precautionary principle provides a framework for putting prevention and precaution into action. It is the “first, do no harm” approach to protect human health from harmful exposures. Applying the precautionary principle to protect human health should take precedence when making decisions about whether or not to use potentially harmful chemicals

We live in a time when half of all men will have cancer in their lifetime and 1 in 3 women will have cancer in their lifetime (according to the SEER Cancer Statistics Review by the National Cancer Institute), we say: prevention is vital. Further more, close to 16% of our children have been diagnosed with learning and behavior problems associated with toxic exposures, we say: precautionary action is essential .

What You Can Do:

•  Educate yourself, neighbors, family and friends
•  Host a video screening or “action circle” on the impact of toxic chemicals and the health of men,
women and children.
•  Call us to strategize in your county or local schools to pass a local “Precautionary Action” ordinance