Educational Resources
The CEC promotes environmental health literacy in communities impacted by chemical contaminants. We do this by partnering with community-based organizations to increase awareness of the sources and impacts of chemical contaminants in the environment, and by supporting the community’s efforts to address health risks.
As part of this effort, we will work in close collaboration with community partners to design, test, and implement lesson plans, hands-on learning activities, community science projects and other educational resources related to environmental health and reducing exposures in the home environment, soils, and from water and wild-caught fish.
This page highlights the educational resources we have developed and serves to make them available for formal and informal educators and the broader public. This page will also highlight some of our related community outreach materials related to contamination of soil and fish that could be used by educators as they see fit.
Contact us if you need assistance adapting these materials for your region or have questions about dimensions, paper type, etc. needed for printing.
Educational Resources
coming soon!
Outreach Materials
Soil contamination materials
Soil contaminant fact sheets
These two-page factsheets on specific contaminants found in soil include information on sources of soil contamination and exposure, health impacts, regulatory standards, and practical steps to limit exposure.
General Gardening Best Practices
These factsheets provide some basic information on contaminants in garden soils, and steps you can take to reduce exposure.
‘Gardening Safely’ Video Series
These brief videos cover the basics for gardening safely, even if your soil might contain chemical contaminants. Learn about specific contaminants, exposure routes, learning about past uses at a garden site, and steps you can take to limit exposure.
“What are soil contaminants?”
“Exposure routes & health risks”
“How can I learn more about my garden site?
“How can I limit exposure in the garden?”
‘Check Your Dirt NC’ Gardener Decision Tool
This informative survey is for gardeners in North Carolina who want to learn about the types and sources of soil chemical contaminants that might be found in and around their own garden site, community gardens, and school gardens, evaluate relative risks and gardening practices that decrease the risk of exposure to soil contaminants, and find resources to test for soil contaminants in the garden.
FISH contamination materials
‘Stop, Check, and Enjoy!’ campaign materials
The following materials were developed as part of an educational outreach campaign targeted at subsistence fishers and fish consumers in the lower Cape Fear River basin. Campaign materials include posters, wallet cards, recipe calendars, and more. The social media toolkit can help spread important environmental health messages to a broader audience. The ‘Cape Fear Kids Go Fishing’ comic book is a great way to introduce the idea of contaminants in fish, fish advisories, and steps that can be taken to minimize health risks, all as part of a compelling story.
Other helpful resources
The two page mercury in fish factsheet details the problems posed by mercury contamination of fish, sources of mercury, health effects, and more. The fish consumption advisory communications manual provides tangible and practical advise on ways to best communicate on: the risks of exposure to contaminants in fish, the fish advisories themselves, and how best to reach specific populations.
