Environmental Health Sciences believes

• That high quality science should be the foundation of public health policy.
• That jointly with science, those whose health is affected by policy should have the driving voices in the creation of those policies.
• That our work needs to call out injustices, point to solutions and spur action leading to quantifiable, sustainable improvements to our health and environment.
• That science and journalism can objectively shape public discussion and activate people to make healthy, informed choices about their health and wellbeing.
• That forces pushing false anti-science, anti-civil society narratives stand to reap considerable economic and political rewards, and that an environment encouraging the public’s open-minded, unbiased consideration of the best available scientific information does not exist by accident and in fact needs support.
• That progress is never a result of scientific discovery alone; it requires other forces: crusading journalism, advocacy, politics.

We work to create a world in which

• the public and private sector policies governing the manufacture and use of chemicals encourage inherently safe materials;
• chemists use design tools to avoid synthesizing hazardous materials;
• the health costs of harmful chemicals are no longer externalized;
• the harmful effects of agricultural chemicals on soil fertility are eliminated thereby heightening food security;
• the neurological effects of chemical exposures no longer diminish intellectual and emotional intelligence and cease their contributions to other neurological maladies, including those of aging;
• chemical impacts on our immune systems no longer make us vulnerable to pathogens nor cause autoimmune disorders;
• communities take steps now to protect their citizens from potential disruptions of society resulting from large scale human impacts on the environment.

EHS’ commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion

EHS brings an equity-rooted focus to its work contextualizing science, improving our health, and making our environment safer and more sustainable for all.

These following guiding principles are simply the beginning of our work to address social and environmental injustice and inequity. Special thanks to the Heinz Endowments for supporting this work and providing the foundation for this framework.

By focusing on equity, we aim to transform the root causes of structural environmental inequity, so we no longer have to remedy its symptoms.

Our values

EHS believes that equity work happens at the intersection of power and opportunity. We work with and within science and journalism to elevate power within communities and create opportunities so that race, gender, and/or ZIP code do not predict your health or environment.

We also believe that equity does not happen by chance, and EHS will act on and invest in efforts that measure, track and close outcome gaps. That requires looking in as well as out, and EHS will spend time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within its board, staff, partners and advisory bodies.

Equity is an intentional, urgent attempt to right historical wrongs through systems-building. Outcome gaps plague our country and region because of practices that harm underrepresented communities. This improved collective wellbeing is a shared right and shared responsibility. We believe that, jointly with science, those whose health is affected by policy should have the driving voices in the creation of those policies.