Collaborative on Health and the Environment
Dr. Schettler is Science Director of Collaborative on Health and the Environment, a nonpartisan partnership of individuals and organizations concerned with the role of the environment in human and ecosystem health. CHE seeks to raise the level of scientific and public dialogue about the role of environmental contaminants and other environmental factors in many of the common diseases, disorders and conditions of our time. Established in 2002, participation in CHE is open to health professionals, researchers, health-affected and patient groups, advocacy organizations and indeed anyone concerned about protecting the health of current and future generations from environmental harm. The latest emerging scientific evidence on links between diseases, disorders and disabilities and possible environmental causes is summed up in a series of papers now posted on the CHE science website. The site seeks to make new information accessible to people who care about these issues and who are looking for answers, not just about the "why's" but also the "what's," ... as in "what can I do?"
The list of conditions that science now plausibly links to the effects of environmental contaminants includes: asthma, birth defects, brain cancer, breast cancer, childhood leukemia, endometriosis, infertility, learning and behavioral disorders, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.
The science is not certain... science never provides absolute certainty... but the evidence is strong enough to warrant careful consideration and to suggest preventative steps that can decrease risks.
Dr. Schettler has published peer-reviewed analyses on the following topics for CHE (click on the title to link to the full paper, and on summary to link to an overview of what we know):
Ecological medicine: Complex systems, health, and disease (Oct, 2006) By Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science and Environmental Health Network
Heart Disease and the Environment (July 2005) By Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science and Environmental Health Network
Autism: Do environmental factors play a role in causation? (July 2004) By Ted Schettler MD, MPH, Science and Environmental Health Network
Birth Defects and the Environment (July 2004) By Betty Mekdeci, Birth Defect Research for Children, and Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science and Environmental Health Network Summary
Endometriosis (April 2003) By Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science and Environmental Health Network Summary
Infertility and Related Reproductive Disorders (May 2003) By Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science and Environmental Health Network Summary
Developmental disabilities-impairment of children’s brain development and function: the role of environmental factors (Feb 2003) By Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science and Environmental Health Network (This paper was adapted from: Schettler T. Toxic threats to neurologic development of children. Environ Health Perspect 2001 Dec;109 Suppl 6:813-6 ) Summary
Prostate Cancer (April 2003) By Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science and Environmental Health Network Summary
Also on the CHE science site, read papers by Dr. Schettler's colleague Gina Solomon, MD, MPH (San Francisco School of Medicine and the Natural Resources Defense Council) on the latest emerging evidence of environmental causes of: Asthma, Brain Tumors, Breast Cancer, and Ovarian Cancer.