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MCEA led the fight to pass the Tracking Toxins legislation that became law in April 2007. This legislation provides $2 million over two years so the Minnesota Department of Health, working with scientists, can begin identifying connections between environmental pollutants and chronic disease.
 Science has shown that air, water, and soil pollutants can cause or aggravate many chronic disease conditions, including cancer, asthma, reproductive problems, nervous system diseases such as Parkinson’s, and childhood developmental and behavioral disorders. With this legislation we will now have solid information on the proportion of disease cases that are related to environment.
Previously, the uncertainty made it exceedingly difficult to protect the public from these preventable illnesses. In the longer term, the information generated by these efforts will help ensure Minnesota’s regulatory programs and disease prevention efforts are focused on real threats to public health.
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