Nursing and Environmental Health
Environmental Health Websites
Nurses need access to accurate information when reducing health risks from environmental hazards. The websites below provide information on a number of areas of environmental health. Under each section links are provided to both Canadian and international sites.
If any links no longer work, please notify Jason Frank, webmaster, at jfrank@cna-aiic.ca. Please send suggestions of other websites to Della Faulkner, nurse consultant, at dfaulkner@cna-aiic.ca.
Acting on climate change
Canadian environmental non-governmental organizations
Cancer and the environment
Children’s environmental health
Environmental health tutorials
Environmentally preferable cleaning products
General environmental health
Greening the health-care system
Indoor air quality
Increasing energy efficiency
Increasing nurses’ policy capacity in environmental health
Nursing websites on environmental health
DEHP and polyvinyl chloride
Political platforms – environment
Reducing exposures to lead
Reducing pesticide use
Reducing mercury use
Reducing waste in hospitals
ACTING ON CLIMATE CHANGE
NATIONAL SITES
Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences
David Suzuki Foundation
ecoACTION
ecoAUTO
Environment Canada: Action and Learning
Environment Canada: Clear Air: Compiled List of Tips
Environment Canada: Save Money and Energy by Choosing Energy Star
Environment Canada: Climate Change
Health Canada: Climate Change and Health
KYOTOplus
Natural Resources Canada: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program
Natural Resources Canada: The International Energy Star Symbol
Pembina Institute
PROVINCIAL AND TERRITORIAL CLIMATE CHANGE SITES
Alberta: Climate Change
British Columbia: Environmental Quality Branch: Climate Change
Manitoba: Climate and Green Initiatives
New Brunswick: The New Brunswick Climate Change Public Education and Outreach Hub
Newfoundland: Climate Change Education Centre
Nova Scotia: Climate Change
Northwest Territories: Climate Change
Nunavut: Department of Environment
Ontario: Climate Change
Prince Edward Island: Climate Change
Quebec: Climate Change
Ouranos: Adapting to Climate Change (pdf)
Saskatchewan: Climate Change Saskatchewan
Yukon: Climate Change
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Gateway to the UN System’s Work on Climate Change
United Nations Environment Programme Climate Change
Climate Ark: Climate Change Portal and Internet Search Tool
CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Breast Cancer Action Montreal
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
Canadian Environmental Law Association
David Suzuki Foundation
Equiterre
Friends of the Earth
Pollution Probe
CANCER AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Breast Cancer Action Montreal
Canadian Cancer Society
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario: Environmental Carcinogens & Health
CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
CANADIAN SITES
Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment
Health Canada: Healthy Environments for Children: What You Can Do!
Ontario College of Family Physicians: Environmental Standard Setting and Children’s Health
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Children’s Environmental Health Network training manual: Training Manual on Pediatric Environmental Health: Putting It Into Practice
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Children’s Health Protection
Healthy Children Project
International Network on Children’s Health Environment and Safety (INCHES)
World Health Organization: Children’s Environmental Health
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH TUTORIALS
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Barbara Sattler, a nurse known for her work in environmental health, published an independent study module in 2002: Environmental Health in the Health Care Setting
Children’s Environmental Health Network training manual: Training Manual on Pediatric Environmental Health: Putting It Into Practice
EnviRN, University of Maryland School of Nursing, has nursing education modules on environmental health
Environmental Health Nursing Education Collaborative
U.S. National Environmental Education Program: Health & Environment Program
U.S. National Library of Medicine: online toxicology tutorials
ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE CLEANING PRODUCTS
CANADIAN SITES
EcoLogo Program
Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention Healthcare EnviroNet: Cleaning and Disinfecting
GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
CANADIAN SITES
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
Canadian Health Network: Environment and Health
Centre for Health and Environment Research (University of British Columbia)
Environment Canada: Canadian Environmental Protection Act Environmental Registry General Information
Health Canada: Environmental and Workplace Health
Health Canada: It’s Your Health Series
McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment (University of Ottawa)
National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health
Ontario College of Family Physicians: Environmental Health Committee
Science and Technology for Canadians: Environmental Health Recommended Links
Women’s Health Matters (New Women’s College Hospital)
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Centers for Disease Control: National Center for Environmental Health
The Collaborative on Health and the Environment
Environmental Health Perspectives (free online journal)
Harvard Centre for Health and the Global Environment
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
World Health Organization: Environmental Health
GREENING THE HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM
CANADIAN SITES
Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention
Links to Canadian and international websites on reducing the environmental footprint of buildings from Government of Canada Greening Operations
INTERNATIONAL
Health Care Without Harm
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment
Sustainable Hospitals
INDOOR AIR QUALITY
CANADIAN SITES
Canadian Association of Occupational Health and Safety: Indoor Air Quality
Canadian Association of Occupational Health and Safety: Hazards of Waste Anesthetic Gases
Health Canada: Indoor Air Quality
IAQ Resources Canada: Resources
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Environmental Protection Agency: Sick Building Syndrome
INCREASING ENERGY EFFICIENCY
CANADIAN SITES
Natural Resources Canada: ecoENERGY Retrofit Incentive for Buildings
Natural Resources Canada: The International Energy Star Symbol
INCREASING NURSES’ POLICY CAPACITY IN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
CANADIAN SITES
Canadian Policy Research Networks
Canadian Nurses Association: Nursing and the Political Agenda
Environment Canada: Taking Action Through Public Policy: A Focus on Health and Environment Issues
Government of Nova Scotia Pollution Prevention Factsheet: Developing an Environmental Policy
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario: Taking Action! Political Action and Information Kit for RNs
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Maryland Nurses Association Guidance for Developing an Environmental Health Task Force (pdf)
NURSING WEBSITES ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
CANADIAN SITES
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario: Health and Nursing Policy
Standards of Canadian Occupational Health Nurses
INTERNATIONAL SITES
American Nurses Association
EnviRN, University of Maryland School of Nursing
International Council of Nursing
CANADIAN SITES
Canadian Association of Public Health: Resource Development to Raise Public Awareness About the Health Effects of Air Pollution and Actions to Improve Current Conditions
Canadian Lung Association: Pollution and Air Quality
Health Canada: Outdoor Air
Health Canada: Smog and Your Health
Pollution Probe and the Canadian Automobile Association: Driving Towards a Cleaner Environment – A Healthier Future (pdf)
Toronto Public Health: 20/20 The Road to Clean Air: Actions on the Road
Environment Canada Clean Air Online: Provincial and Territorial Government Action on Clean Air (information on provincial and territorial air quality programs)
DEHP AND POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVC)
CANADIAN SITES
Health Canada Draft Position Statement on DEHP in Medical Devices for Stakeholder Consultation
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Barbara Sattler, a nurse known for her work in environmental health, published an independent study module in 2002 that includes a discussion on the issue of PVC and DEHP in health-care settings: Environmental Health in the Health Care Setting
Health Care Without Harm
POLITICAL PLATFORMS – ENVIRONMENT
CANADIAN SITES
Bloc Québécois
Conservative Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
New Democratic Party of Canada
REDUCING EXPOSURES TO LEAD
CANADIAN SITES
Health Canada: Lead Information Package
Health Canada: Effects of Lead on Human Health
Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Lead in Older Homes
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: ToxFAQs for Lead
REDUCING PESTICIDE USE
CANADIAN SITES
Responsible Pest Management (Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Environment Canada)
Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency: Responsible Pesticide Use
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario: Ontario Nurses Say Pesticide Ban Creates Healthier Environment for Children
Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention: Healthcare EnviroNet Success Story on Reducing Pesticide Use: St. Mary’s Hospital in Ontario
Toronto Public Health: Toronto's Pesticide Bylaw and Natural Lawn and Garden Care
REDUCING MERCURY USE
CANADIAN SITES
Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention: Healthcare EnviroNet
Environment Canada: Mercury and the Environment
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment
Health Care Without Harm
World Health Organization
REDUCING WASTE IN HOSPITALS
CANADIAN SITES
Environment Canada: Waste Reduction in the Hospital & Medical Sector
Success stories on waste reduction from the Hospital for Sick Children: Valerie O'Grady, Director, Environmental Services and Environmental Affairs Coordinator, The Hospital for Sick Children
