The Progressives' Handbook

For your very own "in-depth pollution report for your county, covering air, water, chemicals, and more," head over to Scorecard (www.scorecard.org). This user-friendly site lets you find out who's polluting, where the worst pollution is, and which pollutants do the most harm. You can even compare communities and states or search by company, location or chemical. Scorecard also offers opportunities for online activism.

 Not sure if a Superfund site lurks near you? One quick way to find out is through Sites (www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/index.htm), which the EPA describes as "your one-stop shop for everything you want to know about a specific Superfund site or group of sites."

Sites discusses Superfund classifications, helps you find hazardous waste locations, and even has a lengthy page on "Common Contaminants and Their Health Effects." For example, Sites says mercury "can cause eye and skin irritation; chest pain; tremor; fatigue; weakness" and is "toxic to kidneys." (Why then did the administration weaken mercury regulations?)

Speaking of mercury, if you suspect you might be contaminated, there's a quick way to find out: Greenpeace offers a Mercury Test-Kit for $25. It's part of their national hair-sampling project which aims to discover how widespread the toxin is (https://usa.greenpeace.org/mercury).

A creepy sign of the times is that you can receive digital updates from the government regarding the relative air toxicity in your area. That's right, the EPA's Air Now program measures five pollutants (ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide) and provides a forecast of how cities across the country will be impacted each day. You can even sign up to receive EnviroFlash  "Air Quality Email Notification" alerts in some areas (www.epa.gov/airnow).