Title: Report: Summary of Coalition Initiatives in Environmental Public Health

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Section/SPIG: Environment

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The Massachusetts Public Health Association is a member of a groundbreaking environmental health coalition that could serve as a model for other states. The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (AHT) has galvanized an unprecedented range of consumer groups, unions, faith communities, and health organizations. The coalition's 142 members include the Massachusetts Council of Churches, the state teachers union, a breast cancer organization, and numerous grassroots environmental groups. The mission is to create a fundamental shift in policy: preventing health, safety, and environmental problems by reducing the use of toxic chemicals.

The coalition's premise is that there are dangerous flaws in current environmental policy. Potential toxins are not usually tested for safety before use, and government action is often only prompted after harm is proven and widespread. AHT supports a precautionary approach that prevents disease and illness by adopting safer alternatives to toxic chemicals - chemicals often found in everyday products, such as toys, household cleaners, and cosmetics.

The coalition's efforts include public education, coalition-building, and legislative advocacy. Recently, AHT released a study that found a broad array of dangerous toxins in household dust. AHT is steadily broadening and diversifying its membership, recently enlisting a Boston teenager group and an organization representing people with cognitive and developmental disabilities. In the State House, AHT is supporting bills to phase out mercury in products, require "healthy cleaners" in schools and hospitals, and require the substitution, where feasible, of the most dangerous toxins.

For more information, please visit the AHT web site, <http://www.HealthyTomorrow.org>.