Halt the Harm Webinar — May 18th @ 7 PM

Webinar scheduled by the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project (EHP) and Halt the Harm Network, May 18, 2021 at 7 PM

WEBINAR— “Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Shale Gas Development”

Presenters include Chris Kassotis, PhD, of Wayne State University, and Laura Vandenberg, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The webinar will be moderated by EHP’s medical advisor, Ned Ketyer, MD, FAAP.

​This live webinar will take place on Tuesday, May 18 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. EDT. Register here for the webinar​.

What you’ll get from this webinar presentation:
1. A better understanding of how environmental exposure affects growth and development
2. Background knowledge to equip you in advocating for stronger regulation and policies to protect health
3. How to mitigate exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)

About the presenters:

>>> Dr. Chris Kassotis is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and Department of Pharmacology at Wayne State University in Detroit. He completed his PhD at the University of Missouri working with Susan Nagel and Fred vom Saal to assess unconventional oil and gas operations as a novel source of endocrine disrupting chemicals and potential for adverse human and animal health outcomes. During a postdoc at Duke University, he assessed the metabolic health disruption potential of complex chemical mixtures (e.g. indoor house dust) via a combination of cell and zebrafish models. Now in his own laboratory, he is funded with a K99/R00 award from NIEHS to better evaluate metabolic health risks from exposure to various ethoxylated surfactants, used in hard surface cleaners, detergents, and also in hydraulic fracturing. His lab is focused on identifying and characterizing novel endocrine disrupting chemicals from diverse sources, including unconventional oil and gas operations, and evaluating potential health effects from these exposures.

>>> Dr. Laura N. Vandenberg is an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s School of Public Health and Health Sciences. Her work addresses how low doses of chemicals during critical windows of development can alter gene expression, cell differentiation, and tissue organization in subtle ways that can lead to adult diseases such as cancer, obesity, and infertility. She is specifically interested in endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and has worked extensively with chemicals used as plasticizers and flame retardants. Her work also focuses on how traditional toxicology assays have failed to identify a number of ubiquitous endocrine disruptors, and how current risk assessment practices can be improved in the study and regulation of this class of chemicals.

>>> Dr. Ned Ketyer is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-area pediatrician. Dr. Ketyer enjoyed 26 years in private practice before retiring from patient care in 2017. He remains a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health and is a board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Pennsylvania. Dr. Ketyer is a consultant for the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, bringing attention to the health impacts of fracking in the Marcellus Shale gas patch.

​Register here for the webinar (Tuesday, May 18 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. EDT)​

About these webinars: This upcoming webinar is part of our training series… short webinars brought to you by members of Halt the Harm’s leader directory. These programs are short, focused on tangible skills or information that you can use to be more effective in your campaigns protecting yourself from the oil & gas industry. If you have a presentation, campaign, skill, or tool to share with the network, please reply and let’s start the conversation.

>>> Sincerely, Ryan Clover, Halt the Harm Network, Halttheharm.net

Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Childhood Cancers

From an Announcement of SW PA Environmental Health Project, September 14, 2020

Join Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, Tuesday, September 15 at 7PM for part two of their three-part webinar series about shale gas development and cancer.

For part two of the series, Dr. Shaina Stacy will discuss “Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Childhood Cancers.”

Dr. Shaina Stacy is a postdoctoral associate at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, where she investigates early life and environmental risk factors for childhood cancers. She received her Ph.D. and M.P.H. from Pitt Public Health’s Department of Environmental & Occupational Health.

Register here.

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The Toxic Story of Plastics with Dr. Randi Pokladnik

DATE & TIME: Wednesday, September 16th @ 6:30 p.m

Via Zoom, the Dover (Ohio) Public Library will host a program about the toxicity of plastics featuring Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition volunteer Dr. Randi Pokladnik, an expert in environmental studies.

With her “The Toxic Story of Plastics” presentation, Randi will explain the life cycle of plastic production and follow plastics from cradle to grave, examining all the externalities involved and how plastics affect human health and the environment.

To register for the program, send an email to:

srieger@doverlibrary.org

You will receive a link to join the group for the presentation.

The “life cycle” of plastic is a complicated one. In the beginning oil and gas must be extracted from the earth and refined. This material is then used to manufacture products for human consumption such as furniture, bottles, tires, to name a few. After the plastic has been used, it ends up in the waste-management system (recycling) or in the environment (landfills or oceans). No matter what stage of life the plastic is in, human beings are exposed to toxic chemicals.

Plastics and related chemicals enter people’s bodies through inhalation, ingestion and skin contact. These chemicals and particles of plastic affect every major system in the body: cardiovascular, reproductive, neurological, respiratory, gastrointestinal and endocrine.

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Air Monitoring and Emergency Systems Program

DATE & TIME: Wednesday, September 16th, 7:00 pm

The next event series listed here kicks off this Wednesday and it is titled Health and Safety in Beaver County, hosted by Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community, or BCMAC. These are folks who live near the Shell ethane cracker being constructed in Beaver County, PA. This Wednesday’s event features expert presentations on air monitoring and emergency systems and will surely become a resource.

Click here to register for Wednesday’s Zoom event,
and please help spread the word by sharing the link:

bit.ly/beavercounty2020

This kick-off event for the Health & Safety in Beaver County series will discuss air monitoring systems in the region, citizen experiences and emergency management systems designed to keep the public safe.

Don’t miss the panel of experts and important discussion!

Welcome and Overview: Bob Schmetzer
Moderator: Sr. Kari

SPEAKERS
>> Citizen Experiences: Karen Gdula and Barbara Goblick, Marcia Lehman/Chlorine Fire
>> Air Monitoring Overview: Ana Hoffman, Carnegie Mellon University
>> Shell Fenceline Monitoring: Adam Kron, Environmental Integrity Project and Karl Koerner, Clean Air Council
>> Citizen Tools: Mark Dixon (Purple Air, RAMP, AirVis VOC, Summa canisters)
>> Emergency Response: Eric Brewer, Beaver Emergency Management
>> Live Panel with Public Q&A: Sr. Kari

Click here to register for this event