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 yacht anchored in aqua blue water

A climate summit built on contradiction

At COP30 in Belém, climate delegates slept aboard diesel-powered cruise ships and traveled roads carved through newly deforested land, contradictions that unsettled many, including California’s contingent.

Solar panels, wind turbines, and large battery containers for energy storage

North Dakota utility regulators to consider state’s first-ever battery storage sites

For the first time, North Dakota utility regulators are considering proposals for massive battery storage sites that would serve as backstops for renewable energy sources. 
A poster that says All You Need is Meat with a plate of meat in front of it

In Brazil, agribusiness giants hire celebrity influencers to win hearts and minds

Brazil’s biggest meat and agrochemical companies have paid nearly 200 influencers to promote their products in the year leading up to COP30, using pop culture and wellness messaging to deflect attention from their rising emissions and environmental harms.

An aerial view of a coal plant surrounded by fog

Wisconsin coal terminal to close after 50 years as clean energy saps demand

After nearly 50 years of operation, the Midwest Energy Resources coal terminal in Superior will shut down next June as coal shipments continue to decline amid the clean energy transition.

A house completely destroyed by a hurricane

Hurricane Melissa a ‘real-time case study’ of colonialism’s legacies

Hurricane Melissa ravaged rural Jamaica; campaigners at COP30 say the disaster exposes how communities shaped by slavery and colonial extraction now bear the brunt of climate impacts.

a group of young people holding up climate protest signs in the street.
Credit: Leonardo Basso/Unsplash

Thousands march for climate action as COP30 talks enter second week

As the talks continue, some countries are pushing for a detailed “road map” for a global transition away from oil, gas and coal.
prticipants at the entrance to COP 30 pavilion
Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/isostandards/ Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

‘Additional promises mean nothing’: The awkward flaw in the world’s climate talks

World leaders have vowed to fight rising temperatures for years. Many of those pledges fade when the summits end.
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.

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