EduTOX

EduTOX Video Challenge winner Asha Mior, 14

EduTOX winner Asha Mior shares her adventures at the 2016 World's Largest Sandbox

The day that I found out that I won the EduTOX Video Challenge, I screamed. A $1400 scholarship and a trip to Ottawa? What an opportunity! 

In early June, my family and I travelled to Ottawa to attend the World’s Largest Sandbox Event! The event, which takes place on Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa, allows parliamentarians, non-profit organizations, and local kids to come together to raise awareness of the health of Canadian children.  

Engaging Youth in Conversations about Toxic Chemicals through the EduTOX Video Challenge

While the use of chemical substances can improve our standard of living, many can cause unintended health effects. Chemical substances that we encounter in day-to-day life can be determined hazardous based on factors including toxicity – the potential of a chemical to be harmful – and the route and duration of exposure. Studies have shown that one’s exposure to chemical substances can begin as early as the embryo and fetus development phase, through the blood vessels of the placenta in the womb. Hazardous chemicals like mercury, lead, BPA, asbestos, phthalates and many others can be inhaled, ingested, or even absorbed through the skin and pose a great risk to human health. As the use of chemical substances and additives increases with each generation, so too does the risk to all children and youth. So how do we take action and inform youth about the impacts of these potential toxins?

By making them a part of the solution of course!

Introducing the EduTox Video Challenge!

The Sandbox Project's EduTOX Video Challenge officially opens on January 21, 2016

At last November’s Prenatal Environmental Health Education (PEHE) Forum, a core recommendation was that the focus of Environmental Health education efforts must go beyond pregnant women and include students and young adults to raise awareness of issues that could have significant impacts on the health of their future children and their own health over the long term. To engage youth on health-environment linkages, a national video competition was proposed whereby participants would be invited to produce short videos communicating key Environmental Health messages.In partnership with the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE), the David Suzuki Foundation, the Lung Association of New Brunswick, Pollution Probe, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the University of Ottawa, Yellow Pages Canada and the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health, we are proud to introduce the EduTox Video Challenge.