Environmental concerns? Forum planned

Key environmental health concerns for Washington will be aired at a town meeting Sept. 29 and 30 in Seattle. Topics to be discussed will include links between childhood asthma and air pollution, environmental justice, and health effects of exposures to pesticides and other toxic chemicals.

The public event is free and will begin at 4 p.m. Friday the 29th and 8:30 a.m. Saturday the 30th at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

The town meeting, titled “Voices for Healthy Environments, Healthy Communities,” will give community members a chance to air concerns about environmental conditions that affect human health. Community activists, research scientists and environment and health officials will share perspectives on a variety of environmental health issues.

Dr. Kenneth Olden, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), will attend the town meeting to listen and gather information that will help shape the direction of national environmental health research.

The town meeting is hosted by the University of Washington and sponsored by the NIEHS. NIEHS is holding such meetings nationwide to encourage members of the community to communicate environmental health concerns directly to scientists.

For more information about the forum, contact Naomi Stenberg at (206) 616-2643 or naomis@u.washington.edu. More information is also available on the town meeting website http://depts.washington.edu/townmeet/.