FASE staff and associates conduct research and develop and produce print, film and new media products that fulfill educational and social needs. They also conceive and execute outreach campaigns related to these materials.

The following overview offers brief highlights of this work, grouped by program area.

Environmental Chemical Exposures

• In 1983, FASE supported research at a VA hospital in Sepulveda, CA that showed that even low level-exposures to a common fire retardant (PBB) adversely affected the immune system.
  
  
• A FASE intern (later to be a board member) published a prescient review of legal issues related to the problem of Worker's Compensation and occupational chemical exposures in the Southern California Law Review in 1984.
  
  
• Months of interviews with residents in the small California community of Oroville, the scene of intense contamination for almost two decades, prompted a review of the appropriate public health response to the town's contaminated water. 
  
  
• Following a ruling in 1991 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency calling for the elimination of lead from drinking water in 20 years (a goal yet to be achieved), FASE published a series of papers documenting the hazards associated with low-level exposures to lead. The series was authored by the scientist whose work prompted the EPA ruling. 
  
  
• In cooperation with Argonne National Laboratory, FASE initiated the first study to provide a detailed picture of radon levels in the Los Angeles and Denver-Ft. Collins, Colorado areas. The colorless and odorless gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S.
  
  
• A 1988 FASE report reviewing the long-term health effects associated with long-term exposures to styrene generated an overwhelming response from environmental groups, business, industry and research organizations.
  
  
• In 1985, as China experienced a tremendous industrial resurgence under Deng Xiaoping, representatives of China's resource recovery industry were brought to FASE under the auspices of the World Bank, the United Nations and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Relations and Trade to discuss worker health and safety issues.
  
  
• Throughout the early 1980s, FASE associates made presentations at meetings such as the National Conference on Hazardous Wastes and Environmental Emergencies on the then-controversial topic of diagnosis of low-level chemical exposures and toxic bioaccumulation.
  
  
• In 1987, FASE joined with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the American Water Foundation, the World Bank and other organizations to sponsor a national forum on the theme, "Toxic Substances in Agricultural Water Supply and Drainage: Searching for Solutions."
  
  
• In 1988, FASE staff spearheaded a project that prolonged the life of the National Human Adipose Tissue Survey, one of the most important sources of evidence regarding human exposure to toxics.
  
  
• FASE associates were among the first to document storage of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in human fat tissue.
  
  
• Following a research fellowship at FASE, a scientist from the former Yugoslavia returned to head a ground-breaking project using satellite remote sensing technology to evaluate the presence and movements of pollution, the effects of acid rain and the pollution of the Adriatic Sea.
  
  
• On an ongoing basis, FASE provides support to enable Russian scientists working to address the human effects of severe radioactive and chemical contamination to present their findings at international conferences.

Exporting Risk: Documenting Hazardous Trade

• Since 1990, FASE has published the only comprehensive public-record data on exports of banned and hazardous pesticides from US ports to destinations in the developing world. 
  
  
• By invitation, project staff have presented findings from this research in export reform hearings in both the U.S. House and Senate.
  
  
• Project findings have been shared with delegates participating in intergovernmental negotiations for the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Prior Informed Consent (PIC) treaties. FASE staff participated as non-governmental observers in these negotiations, which were conducted under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Detoxification: The Unpolluting of Man

• Since 1981, FASE staff and associates have participated in studies relating to the Hubbard detoxification program. Studies regarding the use of this program to reduce body burdens of common contaminants such as DDT and PCBs have been published by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health, UNESCO and the American Society of Civil Engineers, among others.
  
  
• In cooperation with the University of Ljubljana Medical Society and the Slovenian Science Foundation, FASE researchers examined the benefits of detoxification for a group of Slovenian and Croatian workers with long-term exposure to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), electrical coolants long banned in the United States.
  
  
• In cooperation with the World Health Organization, the U.S. EPA, the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the Commission on the European Communities, FASE presented a study regarding the detoxification of HCB (hexachlorobenzene)-exposed workers at an international symposium in Lyon, France.
  
  
• FASE associates participated with scientists at the Medical Radiological Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (in Obninsk, Russia) in a study evaluating the benefits of detoxification for persons whose health was harmed by the Chernobyl disaster. Findings were presented at U.S. EPA conference on post-emergency response to radioactive incidents.
  
  
• Case studies regarding Gulf War veterans whose condition improved following detoxification were presented by FASE associates to a Presidential Oversight Board addressing the problems experienced by Gulf War Veterans.
  
  
• Presentations by FASE Associates at a conference sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) led to an official recommendation by CDC that detoxification be studied as a treatment option for Gulf War veterans.
  
  
• FASE helped organize two international conferences--one in Los Angeles, CA and one in Stockholm, Sweden--that were the first to consider similarities in the human consequences of environmental chemical exposures and drug abuse.  Hundreds of professionals from the U.S., Europe, Russia and Asia attended these meetings, from drug rehabilitation specialists and occupational physicians to government officials and journalists.

Television, New Media

• The Foundation's media division has produced more than 70 television programs. This work has received more than 150 awards. FASE has three times received the highest honor in broadcasting, the George Foster Peabody Award.
  
  
• The Foundation's classroom series, Futures with Jaime Escalante, has had an active life of more than a decade. According to PBS, it has been used in more classrooms than any other program in the history of PBS VIDEO.
  
  
• Among the 50 awards that Futures received are a Peabody, the Action for Children's Television Award and the entertainment industry's Environmental Media Award.
  
  
• The FASE-produced PBS broadcast special, Good Morning Miss Toliver, has become one of America's most broadly-used staff development videos.
  
  
• The series that brought Ms. Toliver to elementary classrooms, The Eddie Files, was praised by the Peabody board as "a model for producers to emulate." It was the first instructional program in the history of public television to move from the classroom to home broadcasts.
  
  
• With support from the National Science Foundation, FASE developed Making Connections, a ground-breaking workshop kit that helped teachers implement video in math and science instruction.
  
  
• Through a 6-month workshop at the American Film Institute, and with further support from CPB, FASE developed a benchmark prototype for educational application of "enhanced television" (ETV) technologies.

Violence Prevention

• FASE has acted as grants manager for Olmos Productions, the production company founded by actor and humanitarian Edward James Olmos. The first project from this partnership was It Ain't Love, an award-winning documentary about gang violence in East Los Angeles. The network premiere of this program, introduced by President Clinton, was followed by a campaign featuring screenings and discussions at schools throughout the country.
  
  
• Next, FASE worked with Olmos Productions on It Ain't Love, a documentary addressing the problem of teen dating violence. FASE staff assisted in development of the teachers guide and classroom activities that accompanied the documentary.

Space Exploration

• In cooperation with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, FASE produced a documentary profile of "Genesis," one of NASA's "Origins of the Universe" missions. Genesis will add to our knowledge of the elements that are the building blocks of our solar system, collecting samples of solar wind and returning them to Earth for scientific study. The Genesis video is being used for instructional purposes, and to help the public better understand this important mission.
  
  
• First broadcast more than a decade ago, the FASE PBS special, "Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun" provided a unique look at careers in space. The award-winning program was re-broadcast on the SciFi Channel to celebrate the first National Space day, with an introduction by Senator John Glenn.
  
  
• FASE staff and associates maintain an active involvement with the space community, including positions on the California Space Authority's Education Committee and the Advisory Board for the National Endowment for the Arts' "Mars Millennium" project.

Career Education 

• In partnership with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, FASE produced "High Hopes." The video and CD-ROM project will be used by UCAR designed to increase the participation of women and minorities in careers in atmospheric science.
  
  
• Under a grant from the National School to Work Office, FASE developed an Internet-based project that allows students to conduct virtual "interviews" with professionals working in the field of environmental science.
  
• With support from Dell Computer Corporation, FASE created "Want This Job," a series of short interstitial programs for public television highlighting careers that use mathematics.

Disaster Relief

• In cooperation with Edward James Olmos, FASE established a fund to collect money and provide natural disaster relief supplies for areas of Venezuela that were struck by devastating floods.
  
  
• Also with Mr. Olmos, FASE established a fund for the Chiapas Food Project, which brings relief to indigenous people in the troubled state.

Home   ||  Top of Page  ||  Store   ||   Contact Us

Copyright © FASE, 2002. All rights reserved.