Community groups, academic & research institutions,
and government agencies working on a range of public health issues
have received funding from litigation settlements managed by the Public
Health Trust.
A selection of recent grants follows:
Safe Toys
PHT will distribute funds related to this settlement for a Toy Testing and Outreach Fund that will support 1) projects to monitor compliance with limitations on lead in children’s products in California, and 2) outreach programs to inform the public about recalls of children’s products. One grant has been made to date:
Center for Environmental Health for a project to test toys for lead and raise public awareness about the problem of lead in certain toys. In addition to testing toys currently being sold by major retailers, CEH’s project includes opportunities for consumers to bring toys to designated locations for testing ($90,000).
Underground Storage Tanks
The Public Health Trust distributed funds to support projects addressing water quality issues in rural Californian communities.
Klamath Riverkeeper for the Klamath Salmon Fishermen and Tribal Empowerment Project to assist the Karuk and Yurok Native American tribes, as well as the Pacific Coast Fisheries Association, in advocacy activities to protect the health of the Klamath River ($50,000).
Community Clean Water Institute for the Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Program and Expansion of Mark West Creek Water Quality and Instream Flows Monitoring Project, which will continue and enhance its Citizen Water Quality Program of testing and monitoring water quality in the Mark Creek area of Sonoma County, educating the community on water quality issues and water conservation and promoting citizen involvement in watershed protection activities ($25,000).
Center on Race Poverty and The Environment for the Don’t Waste the Valley Project that encompasses community organizing and advocacy centered on cleaning up contaminated groundwater and securing safe drinking water for residents of Arvin and Shafter in rural Kern County ($50,000).
Clean Water Fund for the Central Valley Water for All Project to work with multi-ethnic communities in northern San Joaquin Valley in improving the quality of their drinking water ($50,000).
Community Water Center for the Protecting Groundwater from the Ground Up Project to improve groundwater used as drinking water through the development and coordination of AGUA, a grassroots coalition of impacted communities and non profit organizations in the southern San Joaquin Valley ($50,000).
Mexican Soda Bottles with Decoration Containing Lead
PHT will distribute funds related to this settlement for the following purposes:
(1) to monitor retailers for continued use of certain glass bottles, (2) to assist small companies in
retaining auditors to inspect their food production and processing activities, and (3) and to support
projects dedicated to the reduction of lead in Mexican food products.
Five grants have been awarded to date:
Environmental Health Coalition in National City
to conduct outreach to Mexican Candy producers and suppliers of tamarind and chili regarding the
hazards of lead in their products and ways to avoid lead contamination.
St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundation/Families in Good Health
in Long Beach for a project to survey and monitor retail establishments in Long Beach and Carson for the availability and
sale of specific candy and soda bottles.
The Center for Community
Action and Environmental Justice in Riverside to expand the SALTA Advanced Promotora Program activities to include surveying and monitoring retail stores in Riverside and San Bernardino
Counties for the sale of candy and soda which have tested high for lead.
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries, Inc.
Healthy Markets Project to survey and monitor small markets and supermarkets in Fresno and Fresno County
for the sale of candy and soda that have tested high for lead. This project will be implemented in
partnership with Centro La Familia Advocacy, Inc.
Center for Environmental Health for a project to survey and monitor retail establishments in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco and the West Oakland and Fruitvale neighborhoods of Oakland for the availability and sale of specific candy and soda bottles that have tested high for lead. This project will be carried out in partnership with People Organized to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights (PODER), West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP), and Oakland Community Organizations (OCO).
Lead in Mexican-style Candy
The Public Health Trust will distribute funds related to this settlement for the following purposes:
(1) community education about lead poisoning and about candy products that should be avoided,
(2) technical assistance to small candy producers working to comply with the requirements of
the Consent Judgment, (3) laboratory equipment to test Mexican candy and (4) the recruitment
of Opt-In Defendants.
Six grants have been awarded to date:
Literacyworks to promote lead education to high risk community members through a community-based participatory education and dissemination model in Monterey County.
Get the Lead Out Coalition, a coalition of Bay Area Lead Poisoning Prevention Leaders representing Alameda, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Solano and the City of Berkeley. The project will conduct outreach and education in the greater Bay Area to increase awareness of consumers, community -based organizations, elementary school teachers and administrators, and retailers about the seriousness of lead poisoning, ways to prevent lead exposures and particularly about lead in Mexican-style candies.
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries to provide outreach to consumers and retailers from refugee and immigrant communities living within Fresno County. This project will be implemented in partnership with Centro La Familia Advocacy, Inc.
The City of Pasadena Public Health Department to educate local retailers, mobile vendors, Hispanic/Latino families, and the general public about the health hazards of lead poisoning and to reduce consumption of certain Mexican-style candies with known lead contamination.
The California Poison Control System (CPCS) at the Department of Pharmacy,
University of California – San Francisco, to develop and produce an integrated line of
education materials for consumers, retailers and others, to engender action and lead to increased
awareness and improved choices regarding Mexican-style candies. CPCS used a collaborative
approach in developing these materials, partnering with a large group of community-based
organizations and an interdisciplinary team made up of CPCS pharmacists, physician-toxicologists
and cultural anthropologists, along with the CPCS social marketing, content and education
product development experts.
California Department of Health Services Food and Drug Branch Laboratory for
laboratory equipment to test for lead in food products such as Mexican produced candy.
Specifically, the funds contributed to the purchase of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
Spectrometer (ICP-MS) machine, now considered to be the standard for conducting tests on
lead in candy at the 0.1 parts per million level. The laboratory will use the equipment to
insure that food products imported from Mexico do not pose a health hazard to consumers.
Tobacco Sampling and Other Marketing Activities at Adult-Only Venues
The Public Health Trust developed a grants program to fund projects to counter or prevent tobacco industry marketing techniques aimed at young adults in adult-only venues such as bars and fraternities in California, as well as tobacco company-sponsored brand websites. Four grants were awarded, one to develop, pilot test and disseminate a toolkit and three for innovative research and evaluation projects:
Promoting Healthy Nutrition
The Public Health Trust awarded a grant to Community Health Clinic Ole
to support diabetes nutrition programs for low-income clients. Funding for this grant was
provided through an agreement between a distributor of dietary supplements and the Napa
County District Attorney’s Office resulting from the sale of ephedra-based products in California.
