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GreenFacts publishes three studies: Water Disinfectants, Dioxins and Aspartame
Brussels, 24 September 2004. GreenFacts has recently published three studies on www.greenfacts.org : water disinfectants, dioxins and aspartame. Non-specialists are now able to have better direct access to the information of the scientific consensus. GreenFacts studies target non-specialist environment and health stakeholders like policymakers, journalists, doctors and teachers. "These three publications, in rapid succession, reinforce the position of GreenFacts as a leader in the field of science communication to non-specialists" declares Jacques de Selliers, GreenFacts General Manager. GreenFacts takes previously published scientific consensus documents and summarizes them in a language and structure for non-specialists. "It shows how our organization is able to add value to the debates on environment and health issues," de Selliers continues, "as we had done with our earlier summaries on climate change and endocrine disruptors". The Water Disinfectants study examines the health risks of by-products from water disinfectants (chlorine, chloramines, ozone and chlorine dioxide). It is a faithful summary of the 2000 document prepared by the WHO's International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS). These disinfectants can react with natural material in the water to form certain unwanted by-products, which have raised many health questions. The study was prepared by Dr John Fawell. The summaries then underwent a multi-stakeholder review and peer review before the independent GreenFacts Scientific Board approved the document for publication. The Dioxins study summarises the Assessment of the health risk of dioxins, published by the WHO and the IPCS in 1998. Dr Ludo Holsbeeck led the editorial team and verified the corrections through the GreenFacts validation and publication process. "I was impressed at how smoothly the stakeholder validation process was for this rather difficult environmental issue", remarked Stephanie Mantell, GreenFacts Publications Manager, "it is a sign that the scientific information in the WHO-IPCS source document is sound". With the publication of the study on Aspartame, an often debated artificial sweetener, GreenFacts embarked upon its first of many studies that summarize food safety issues. Prepared by Professor Pedro Buc Calderón, in collaboration with Valérie Wauthier, this document is a summary of the 2002 Opinion of the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food. It is presently available in English, French and Spanish. "We hope to get further funding for translations;" stated GreenFacts Operations Manager, David Zaruk, "there is so much good scientific information on important issues that is presently only available in English and only accessible to scientists." GreenFacts asbl is a non-profit organization based in Brussels that publishes on the Internet unbiased, faithful summaries of authoritative scientific documents on various environment and health matters. It was formed in December 2001 by stakeholders from the academe, industrial groups and environmental NGOs concerned about the need for more impartial information for non-specialists on these issues. For further details, contact:
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