Environmental Health Apps

Our colleagues at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health and their community partner WE ACT studied and reviewed hundreds of mobile applications and gave the following eight apps the highest rating. The HERCULES Community Engagement Core reviews and updates this page as we discover more resources that emphasize improving environmental health at the personal level.

Explore these apps and websites by clicking on the photos and links below! Learn tips on how to reduce your exposure to common toxicants in our environments at home and beyond.

Green Cleaning:
Nature’s Nurture	Natural health and green living tips, including cleaning recipes, can be found on this site!
Tips to Lower Exposure to Common Chemicals:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry	Provides home tips, including green cleaning, to reduce chemical exposures around the home.
Detox Me	An app created by scientists at Silent Spring Institute, Detox Me provides research-based tips to reduce your contact with toxic chemicals.
Shopping Guides for Food:
Smart Foods Organic Diet Buddy iOS App; Amazon App	A guide to which fruits and vegetables you should buy organic. Also provides farmer’s market listings and fruit and vegetable nutrition and prep information.
Seasonal Food Guide	Website on in-season produce for fresher, tastier and increased nutrients! When food is in season in your region, it is more likely to be locally derived, traveling a shorter distance from the farm to you, and is able to ripen for longer on the parent plant for more nutrients! Yum!
Environmental Working Group’s Healthy Living App	The Environmental Working Group app identifies ways to make informed choices about buying food, among other items. Check out their lists of The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen! Explore more in the app, linked to the icon.
Fish4Health	An app that provides advice for pregnant or nursing women, women that may become pregnant, and young children in regards to healthful seafood consumption.
Shopping Guides for Consumer Products:
Non-Toxic Black Beauty Product Database	Founded by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC), this buyer’s guide includes products free from harmful chemicals noted in the CSC’s Red List, which identifies chemicals of concern in personal care products.
Environmental Working Group’s Healthy Living App	Ratings for more than 120,000 food and personal care and cleaning products. Find the app by clicking the icon to the left, or explore EWG verified products on their website.
Think Dirty App	An app to identify the ingredients in your beauty, personal care and household products. This app offers a limited free version, and additional features can be accessed through a paid subscription.
Emergency Preparedness:
Emergency	Made by the American Red Cross, Emergency provides real-time local alerts for severe weather and hazards, including earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flood, tsunamis, winter storms, thunderstorms, extreme heat, and wildfire and many more.