The urgency of environmental health concerns demands that we move on many fronts simultaneously. New technology is needed to better evaluate the presence of human exposure to toxic substances. Additional research is critical as we try to understand the interaction of the environment and human disease. Thorough implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act and other laws is needed, as are new laws that warn consumers about the presence of toxic substances. The concept of environmental justice and the truly international nature of these issues must inform all our work on environmental health.
Funding is needed to implement endocrine disruptor screening and a full scale biomonitoring program.
Yet Lerner sees hope, writing that a A significant and critical segment of humanity is awakening to the profound threat that this Age of Extinctions poses both for human health and all life on Earth. A community that preserves its environmental health also provides the foundation for a healthy, stable society. There is indeed a pressing need for scientists, policymakers, and activists to work together to make the changes necessary to save lives. We must make environmental health issues a part of the presidential debate, the Congressional agenda, and the public awareness. Only then will we be able to meet the challenge identified by Rachel Carson and meet our responsibility to generations yet unborn.