New Hampshire APPLETREE
Working with communities to reduce exposure to environmental hazards and the risk for negative health outcomes.
The APPLETREE (Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR’s) Partnership to Promote Local Efforts to Reduce Environmental Exposures) Program supports New Hampshire at many levels. The goal of the partnership between ATSDR and New Hampshire is to give partners the resources to build their capacity to assess and respond to site-specific issues. The program helps ATSDR’s partners:
- Identify exposure pathways at specific sites.
- Educate affected communities and local health professionals about site contamination and potential health effects.
- Review health outcome data to evaluate potential links between site contaminants and community health outcomes.
Together, New Hampshire APPLETREE, communities and partners can protect and promote health in our state!
Upcoming Events:
What is a soilSHOP event?
Soil Screening, Health, Outreach, and Partnership (soilSHOP) events provide community members with free lead screening of soil gathered from their gardens or outdoor play area(s). Along with state and federal partners, New Hampshire APPLETREE staff host soilSHOP events to raise community awareness about lead hazards and how to reduce and prevent lead exposures.
Why should I screen my soil?
With the rise in community and urban gardening, it’s important to prevent exposures to contaminants that may be found in soil, like lead. Lead exposure, particularly in children, can cause irreversible and life-long health effects. No safe blood lead level has been identified.
How can I participate?
Collect soil from your yard, garden, etc., and bring it to a soilSHOP event in a sealable clear plastic bag. Our trained staff will screen the soil for lead after the event and provide follow up information on what the soil screening results mean, tips on how to lower and prevent exposures, and resources if you are concerned about potential lead exposures.
Watch this video on how to collect and prepare a soil sample!
Past Events
Resources
- More information on: Soil, Gardening, and Your Health
- SoilSHOP Frequently Asked Questions: SoilSHOP FAQ
Resources
- VIDEO: Introduction to the New Hampshire Environmental Health Guide
- VIDEO: Understanding Environmental Contamination and Risk
- NH Environmental Health Guide
- VIDEO: Cancer Concerns in the Community (from NH DPHS)
- APPLETREE Documents
- Choose Safe Places Early Child Care Voluntary Property Checklist
- Granite State Survey Executive Summary
- PFAS Contact Information for the Pease Community
- VIDEO: Routes of Exposure to Environmental Chemicals
- Routes of Exposure to Environmental Chemicals Fact Sheet
- VIDEO: Reducing Chemical Exposures in Your Daily Life
- Reducing Chemical Exposures Resource Guide
Our team is available to support your community when petitioned. Petitions are simply requests for our assistance. These can come to us in a variety of ways through any of our stakeholders, including community members. Direct conversations, email submissions or phone calls are all good ways to submit a petition to us.
In addition to health-based recommendations, APPLETREE can provide technical support to all of our stakeholders. Interested in a community educational event about exposure reduction, testing or treatment options? We can work with you to plan and organize!
APPLETREE is working with communities in New Hampshire to reduce exposures to environmental contaminants in their daily lives. We follow comprehensive environmental science research to inform our recommendations to communities. This often comes with review of environmental data and potential risks for individuals who might face exposures.
Published recommendations come in many forms, including health consultations and public health assessments. These are designed to protect and empower the impacted communities.
Our team works closely with our state partners at the Division of Public Health Services to implement ATSDR's Choose Safe Places for Early Care and Education (CSPECE) Program. The program focuses on making sure that early care and education (ECE) facilities are located in safe places where children are not exposed to hazardous chemicals while in their care. Our goal is to empower communities, families and professionals to better understand and consider environmental health when providing for children. By bringing together people in early care and education, child care community planning, public health and environmental protection, we provide technical assistance to both prospective and existing ECEs. For more information please view our programmatic resources or consider filling out our NH CSP Early Child Care Voluntary Property Checklist.
