Investigating Environmental Contamination: A Guide for Communities

This guide is for community members who are concerned about environmental exposures in their neighborhoods. The information and resources found here will help you take steps to figure out if contamination is affecting the health of members of your community. Using this guide can help you to: Take your concerns about environmental contamination to legislators and policymakers. Know which government agencies to contact about pollutants in your environment. Find out the levels of pollution in your air, water, and soil. Recognize some of the health effects that can be caused by environmental exposures. This guide covers outdoor pollution in the air, soil, and water in your community. There are other exposures you and your family might experience from the air inside your home (molds, chemicals evaporating from furniture stain treatments and electronics); from the food you eat (pesticides in produce, mercury in fish); from your workplace (hazardous materials and chemicals, biological agents); and from the personal