Category: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

Martin Luther King Jr. and Environmental Justice: A Leader Ahead of His Time

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Every year we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his work toward social justice, civil liberties, and equal rights for all. His actions, including civil disobedience and passive resistance, led to widely known legal achievements such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Might Read More >

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How much do you know about environmental health?

Air, Food, Soil and Water

How much do you know about environmental health? We’re back for another round of testing your knowledge about environmental health! Read More >

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Children’s Environmental Health Day – October 8, 2020

Children’s Environmental Health Day

ATSDR Protecting Children’s Health – Our Future Generation! Today, children may face illnesses linked to environmental exposures where they live, learn, and play. For example, children may be exposed to harmful chemicals in the air they breathe, the water they drink, or soil they touch or swallow. Read More >

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Children’s Health Month – October 2020

A group of eight multi-ethnic children, 4 to 6 years old, lying on their backs on hay, in a circle with heads in the middle, smiling at the camera.

Leading the way towards safe, healthy, and protective environments where children live, play, and learn! Each year, Children’s Health Month reminds us of the importance of protecting our children’s health from environmental hazards in places where they live, play, and learn. From their earliest stages of development through puberty, children are vulnerable to exposure to Read More >

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National Preparedness Month 2020

Young children enjoying in the playroom

Choose Safe Places for Early Care and Education (CSPECE) Disaster Recovery Supplement Protecting our children where they learn and play during disaster recovery A public health emergency—such as a wildfire, hurricane, or other natural disaster—can happen anywhere and at any time. These disasters disrupt communities. Homes, businesses, childcare facilities, early childhood programs, schools, and other Read More >

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ATSDR’s Toxic Substances Portal

using laptop

ATSDR’s Toxic Substances Web Portal makes it easy for researchers and citizens to find information about toxic chemicals and related health effects. Learn how toxic substances can affect health and how to prevent exposure. Read More >

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Plain Language Past and Present, Part III: Award Winners

OCC safety

Plain Language Past and Present is a three-part blog series highlighting some of the interesting early efforts and events that championed the cause, long before 2010’s Plain Writing Act made it law. Part I examined John O’Hayre’s 1966 Gobbledygook Has Gotta Go, and underscored how overly formal, complex language can make writing wordy, pretentious, incomprehensible—or Read More >

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Plain Language Past and Present, Part II

simplify

The Plain Writing Act, which requires government agencies to use plain writing in all documents, was passed in 2010—but the push to make writing clearer had been ongoing for decades. In this three-part blog series, Plain Language Past and Present, we highlight some of the interesting early efforts and events from the U.S. government website Read More >

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In Fond Memory of a Beloved and Respected Colleague, “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.”

King Artur

Chris passed away on Sunday, May 3, 2020. In tribute to him, this blog is a reposting from September 19, 2016. “I often used to feel like ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court’ — an out-of-place urban planner among physicians, epidemiologists, and nurses at CDC,” says Chris Kochtitzky, an Associate Director for Program Development Read More >

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Plain Language Past and Present, Part I: The Legacy of “Gobbledygook”

simplicity

Ever been confused—or annoyed—by stuffy, stiff, hard-to-understand writing in a government document or statement? You’re not alone. For this reason, the Plain Writing Act of 2010 was passed, ordering U.S. government agencies to write in plain English. To support the law, the government created a website, https://www.plainlanguage.gov/law/, featuring guidelines, resources, and before-and-after examples. There’s also Read More >

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