Our 2021 Annual Report: Environment, health, science & impact

An update from the front lines of climate change and environmental health

What a time of change and growth!

We are pleased to share Environmental Health Sciences' 2021 Annual Report, highlighting the many activities we undertook last year that set EHS up for a strong 2022.


Download our annual report here:

EHS-2021-Annual-Report.pdf

Environmental impact

Agriculture and environmental health

2021 was a year of excitement and challenge for our small nonprofit.

  1. We launched EHN en Español,
  2. Doubled down on our commitment to the groundbreaking early career science program Agents of Change, and
  3. Saw significant gains on both the toxics and climate fronts.

And we watched readers – like you! – get engaged in ways that continually surprised us.

Our work continues

PFAS in cosmetics

In just the first three months this year EHS staff has been a hive of activity:

  • Partnered with wellness community Mamavation.com to investigate PFAS contamination in sports bras, cosmetics and other products.
  • Driven a global campaign around groundbreaking BPA limits in Europe – and why the same scientific standards should be applied in the U.S.
  • Published 10 Agents of Change essays & podcasts exploring everything from new pathways into science to workplace chemical exposures.

Take a look at the work EHS did last year and be proud that you, as a reader, are moving it forward.

We certainly are grateful to you!

PS: Just today we published a look at impacts one year after publishing "Fractured," our groundbreaking investigation into spillover pollution from fracking fields in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Check it out!

Banner photo art by David Ryder for EHN.org

A view of small motorboats at a dock at sunset

Tangier Island: rising waters, eroding shores, dwindling time

Residents say saving the island means preserving a unique aspect of Virginia history and culture while also protecting critical wildlife habitats that surround it.
A row of wind turbines stretching into the distance

Oklahoma's wind is ready. Its power grid is not

Wind turbines are spinning and generating power, but deliberately dialed back because the grid has no room to carry what they produce.
A view of the coastline of Cinque Terre with colorful buildings lining a hillside above the water

Italy’s Cinque Terre coastline could be hit by 13-metre waves by 2150 as sea levels rise

Beaches, ports and, during extreme events, even the railway line that runs through the Cinque Terre National Park are at risk.
An ocean research ship on the sea

Lawmakers push to stop Trump dismantling of ocean observatory project

Lawmakers are demanding the National Science Foundation stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million ocean monitoring network being wound down under the Trump administration.

A coal terminal with cranes and piles of coal next to a body of water

Even $75M from Trump may not save Oakland’s embattled coal terminal

The federal funding is the latest twist in a decade-long saga to build a terminal in Oakland, California, that can export U.S. coal overseas.
A flooded street with building and a van submerged

What's driving up your expenses? Many Americans say climate change

Most Democrats and moderate Republicans agree that global warming is increasing the cost of living, a new survey shows.
Rendered image representative of the internal electronics of a commercial data center

Sucked in. The gaping maw that feeds AI mania

Data centres gobble vast capital, land, water and energy while forcing locals to endure ‘heat islands.’ Who voted for this?
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.