Collaborative for Health and Environment

02/17/2026

As seasons shift, many people experience Seasonal Depression. The symptoms usually occur during the fall and winter months when there is less sunlight, and usually improve with the arrival of spring. The most difficult months for people with seasonal depression (or seasonal affective disorder) in the United States tend to be January and February.

Shorter days. Less sunlight. Disrupted routines. Add climate change and anxiety on top of that, and it can feel overwhelming.

The good news? There are ways to care for your mental health during seasonal transitions.

Your mental health matters in every season.

To see the full post, visit instagram.com/che_healthenv

02/12/2026

Dr. Ray Dorsey, co-author of The Parkinson’s Plan, discusses how Parkinson’s disease is one of the world’s fastest growing brain diseases - how the environment contributes to that trend, and what can be done to address it.

“So how do you go from a disease that has not been classified in medical literature to affecting 6 people in London to one affecting 6,000,000 people and being the world’s fastest-growing brain disease in the world?”

Watch the Science Snippet here:

Dr. Ray Dorsey, co-author of The Parkinson’s Plan, discusses how Parkinson’s disease is one of the world’s fastest growing brain diseases - how the environme...

02/11/2026

Roses are red, violets are blue, this Valentine’s Day, let’s choose what’s healthy for us too🌹

This Valentine’s Day, consider finding healthy and sustainable alternatives to make this day special for you and your loved ones. From trying new experiences to making homemade skincare, let’s remember that we can apply these ideas to spread love to our environment and each other every day.

❣️Swipe to see your love language (environmental health edition)

02/02/2026

This Black History Month, we are spotlighting the work of our partners, Black Women For Wellness and WEACT for Environmental Justice. Both organizations are committed to advocating for the health and protection of communities of color.

We invite you to support their organizations and other similar groups as we continue to engage and mobilize for the safety of the next generation.

01/29/2026

To kick off the new year, we're highlighting two of our CHE advisors dedicated to promoting environmental health through academics and communication🌻

In addition to being one of CHE’s advisors, Audrey Tran Lam serves on several boards, including Pesticide Action Network, Heartland Health Research Alliance, and more. CHE advisor Sharyle Patton leads the Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center, and has a long career supporting science-based efforts to reduce chemical harms.

“I'm particularly interested in those chemicals that are used in industrial processes. . . I see bio-monitoring as looking at the human body and seeing how it mirrors what is going on in the globe, in terms of how we are polluting the air, the water, the soil, the food we eat, the products we use.”

To learn more about these two, visit https://www.healthandenvironment.org/about/staff-and-advisors/

01/22/2026

In this new Science Snippet, Dr. Ted Schettler, Science Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network and co-founder and advisory team member for CHE, discusses how trends in environmental exposures can determine disease patterns, including the current increase in Parkinson's Disease.

“It is seldom recognized that each type of society has diseases peculiar to itself — indeed, that each civilization creates its own diseases.” - René Dubos

Watch the Science Snippet here:

Dr. Ted Schettler, Science Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network and co-founder and advisory team member for CHE, discusses the trends in ...

01/19/2026

Today, we honor and celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., focusing particularly on his work with environmental justice.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was known to be one of the first advocates for environmental justice. He spoke about air pollution, contaminated water, and the interconnectedness of life on earth, social justice, and ecological consciousness. One of his last speeches took place in Memphis in 1968 at the Memphis Sanitation Strike, a protest against unfair treatment and injustice for sanitation workers.

01/15/2026

🖥️Join us Thursday, January 22, for “CHE Café: How states can lead on environmental health” with Susan Kaplan and Sarah Doll!

In this CHE Café discussion, we will hear from author Susan Kaplan, an environmental health lawyer and professor whose experience spans federal and state government and academia and Sarah Doll, longtime leader of the Safer States coalition and veteran state policy advocate. The speakers will explore leading state environmental health policies and what other states can learn from them. Even as federal protections recede, the potential for state action offers hope.

This webinar is co-sponsored with The New School at Commonweal.

🔗 Register here:

Many protections from pollution and toxic chemicals have moved from the federal level to the states. This isn’t just a recent phenomenon; it goes back decades, to changes in the structure of...

01/14/2026

🎉 A new year is here—and with it, the perfect opportunity to reset our habits in ways that support our communities and protect our planet. By volunteering with your favorite organization, reducing single-use plastics, and choosing public transit or carpooling, we can start the year with intention and impact.

As waste, pollution, and emissions continue to rise, small shifts in our daily routines can help protect our health, our environment, and the places we call home.

This year, embrace mindful living: get outside and reconnect with nature, choose reusables over disposables, travel and shop more sustainably, and encourage those around you to do the same!

01/12/2026

CHE’S 2025 IMPACT REPORT:

In 2025, the environmental health issues our community has been working on for decades gained more attention than we’ve seen in the past. We’ve been pleased to serve this broader audience with timely resources to help keep public conversations grounded in the latest science.

Many thanks from all of us on the CHE team to our partners across the environmental health community for the hard work that fuels our collaboration. We’re so excited to continue our work together in the year ahead!

🌱To read the full Impact Report, visit

In 2025 the environmental health issues our community has been working on for decades gained more attention than we’ve seen in the past. We’ve been pleased to serve this broader audience...

01/09/2026

Register here: https://www.healthandenvironment.org/che-webinars/97099

Join us January 27 for our first CHE-Alaska webinar of 2026.

This Alaska Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE-AK) webinar will examine how state and local policy initiatives are shaping the future of chemical safety and public health protection.

🗓 January 27, 2026
🕓 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. AKT
🎙 Speakers: Pamela Miller (Alaska Community Action on Toxics) and Gretchen Salter (Safer States)

The webinar will also highlight the importance of research, organizing, and cross-state collaboration in building durable policy solutions that protect vulnerable communities and promote healthier, safer environments for all.

Register here: https://www.akaction.org/webinars/2026-1-27/

01/07/2026

"In the News" about environmental health:

Last month, a new peer-reviewed research study of 11,000 births in New Hampshire revealed that drinking water contaminated with PFAS probably increases the risk of infant mortality.

“I don’t know if we expected to find effects this big and this detectable, especially given that there isn’t that much infant mortality, and there aren’t that many extremely low weight or pre-term births. . . but it was there in the data.” - Derek Lemoine, study co-author and economics professor at the University of Arizona.

🌱To read the full article, visit

Study of 11,000 births in New Hampshire shows residents’ reproductive outcomes near contaminated sites