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

An aerial view of a complex of buildings

Data centers are burning fossil fuels. It's destroying Big Tech's climate goals

In his new book, Paris Marx explores how global anti-data center movements are fighting Big Tech’s power over us.
A view of a ski resort with people skiing down a hill

How Aspen saved snow during a record-hot summer to prep for ski season

Crews at Buttermilk and Snowmass covered snow with specialty blankets last spring and it lasted through a record-hot summer.
A view of a digger removing trees from a tropical forest

Amazon deforestation hits record low in Brazil, but El Niño and a tight election threaten progress

Deforestation fell almost 42% in a year, but a possible change in president could reverse the trend.
A Black child peers at the camera from behind a tree trunk

African countries could save billions by cutting air pollution and greenhouse gases at the same time

Only 12% of all air pollution deaths globally occur in sub-Saharan Africa, but over half of all child related air pollution deaths occur on the continent.

A thermometer in the middle of green and orange contrasting earth's surfaces

Scientists plow ahead with research needed for a key climate report scrapped under Trump

Some of the ousted climate scientists have just published their own research paper, identifying changes in the research field.
A close up of cracked surface on the earth

‘For Panama, it is life or death’: how drought is choking the canal that feeds a nation

Failed rains and a dire El Niño threaten the waterway that sustains the country, with farmers selling cattle to survive.

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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