Parents, Educators And Lawmakers Want To Know: Are We Putting Our Own Kids At Risk? 10/8/2002
From: Doug Wood of Grassroots Environmental Education, 516-883-0887 or 516-398-0939 (cell); E-mail: daw@grassrootsinfo.org NEW YORK, Oct. 8 -- Hundreds of health professionals, educators, lawmakers, environmental activists and parents from across the tri-state area are expected to converge on Garden City on Thursday, October 10th to consider the latest scientific evidence linking environmental toxins to a host of children's health problems including increased rates of asthma, attention-deficit disorder, several types of birth defects and cancer. "Our Children at Risk," a public health symposium sponsored by Adelphi University and Grassroots Environmental Education will be hosted by Robert Kennedy Jr. and will feature Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, Director of the Center for Children's Health and the Environment at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Other experts from Columbia, Yale and Tulane Universities will also address the symposium via videotape. At issue is the exposure of children to common toxic cleaning products, pesticides, tobacco smoke and emissions from combustion engines, particularly diesel exhaust. Acknowledging the importance of this issue, dozens of the nation's leading research scientists have joined physicians, educators and lawmakers from the New York area in signing a "Joint Statement" which calls on parents, educators and government agencies to take action to reduce or eliminate chemical toxins at home, at school and in any other environment where children spend time. Press Conference Thursday at 2 p.m. in Garden City, Long Island The Joint Statement will be the subject of a Press Conference at Adelphi University on Thursday at 2 p.m. in the Ruth Harley Center off South Road in Garden City. Dr. Landrigan and key politicians will be available for interviews. Video clips of environmental hazards and interviews with leading research scientists will also be made available. ------ "Our Children at Risk" Joint Statement Signatories as of 10/7/02 Michael Balboni, New York State Senator; Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Senator; Jon Cooper, Suffolk County Legislator; Tom DiNapoli, New York State Assemblyman; Steve Englebright, New York State Assemblyman; Richard N. Gottfried, New York State Assemblyman; Judy Jacobs, Presiding Officer, Nassau County Legislature; Craig Johnson, Nassau County Legislator; Kenneth LaValle, New York State Senator; Carl L. Marcellino, New York State Senator; Brian Muellers, Nassau County Legislator; May Newberger, Supervisor, Town of North Hempstead; Thomas Suozzi, Nassau County Executive Barry Commoner, Ph.D. Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, Queens College; Elizabeth Guillette, Ph.D., Visiting Scholar, Center for Bioenvironmental Research, Tulane and Xavier Universities; Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., M.Sc. Center for Children's Health and the Environment, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Frederica Perera, Ph. D. Director, Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University; Carlos Sonnenschein, M.D. Professor of Cellular Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine; Ana Soto, M.D. Professor of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine; Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors, Cornell University; Lucy Waletzky, M.D. Board Member of National Audubon Society; John Wargo, Ph.D. Director of the Center for Children's Environmental Health, Yale University; Peter A. Weil, M.D., FCCP North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System Agnosti Agelarakis, Ph.D. Chair Environment Science, Adelphi University; Audrey S. Blumberg, Ph.D. Senior Associate Provost, Adelphi University; Kathleen Bond, Ed.D., R.N. Dean, Adelphi University School of Nursing; Anupama Chawla, M.D., Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Stony Brook Medical Center; Wajdy Hailoo, M.D. MSc, DIH, Professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Stony Brook University; Robert Kennedy, Jr., Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pace University, Professor of Environmental Law, Pace University; Marilyn Klainberg , Ed.D., R.N. Associate Dean, Adelphi University School of Nursing Mary Clare Lennon, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Clinical Public Health, Columbia University; Dr. Robert A. Scott President, Adelphi University; Charles S. Shopsis, Ph.D. Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, Adelphi University; Benjamin S. Weeks, Ph.D., Biology Department, Adelphi University; Emilia Patricia Zarco, M.D. Health Studies Department, Adelphi University Audubon New York; Beyond Pesticides / National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides; Children's Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC); Citizens Campaign for the Environment; Environmental Advocates; Grassroots Environmental Education; Healthy Schools Network Long Island Neighborhood Network; Long Island Sierra Club; New York Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NYCAP); New York League of Conservation Voters; New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG); North Fork Environmental Council; Physicians for Social Responsibility | |