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

Idle ships awaiting offloading or clearance to move

The energy crisis has only just begun

For 26 days, oil shipments out of the Persian Gulf have stopped. But ships that made it out before the war started have been at sea delivering energy products to markets that ordered them. The last of those ships should dock in the next week setting off a whole new crisis in global energy markets.
Google logo on the side of a building

Google to tap into gas plant for AI datacenter in sharp turn from climate goals

Texas power plant would emit 4.5m tons of carbon dioxide per year, more than that of the entire city of San Francisco.

Downed powerlines from storm damage
Credit: Borrowed Light Images/BigStock Photo ID: 212148019

Trump axed nearly $1B in funding for solar in Puerto Rico

The money is being redirected to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, a government-owned utility with a checkered past.
Two steel/iron foundry workers pouring molten material

Green steel is the way forward for Indiana, former steelworkers say

Advocates warn that what’s left of the industry could be lost if companies choose to invest in dirty blast furnaces instead of modernizing with cleaner steelmaking.

Firefighter wielding a Pulaski tool silhouetted against inferno

Forest Service shake-up comes as risky wildfire season looms

The Trump administration says moving the Forest Service headquarters to Utah and shutting down 31 research stations will streamline operations and bring leaders west, where the forests are.
Three firefighters fighting a wildfire

These maps show exactly where the West might burn this summer

Drought, low snowpack, and a winter heatwave have left every state in the Western U.S. facing an above-average risk of summer wildfires.
Monarch butterfly on flowering plant.

Record low number of threatened species get new protections under Trump, zero in second term

Just 22 species were added to the federally protected list under Trump’s first term and zero have been added in his second term, data reveals.
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.