Defend Our Health is rated Left-Center with Mostly Factual factual reporting by Media Bias Fact Check.
LEFT-CENTER BIAS
These media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Left-Center sources.
- Overall, we rate Defend Our Health Left-Center biased based on its advocacy for environmental regulation, climate action, corporate accountability, environmental justice, and progressive public-health policies. We rate it Mostly Factual in reporting because its central claims are generally supported by scientific research, government data, testing, and credible reporting. However, its activist mission, urgent language, and limited presentation of competing risk assessments prevent a High rating.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER (-4.5)
Factual Reporting: MOSTLY FACTUAL (4.3)
Country: USA
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Organization/Foundation
Traffic/Popularity: Minimal Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY
History
Defend Our Health is a Portland, Maine-based environmental health advocacy organization founded in 2002 by Mike Belliveau and Amanda Sears. Originally called the Environmental Health Strategy Center, it adopted its current name in 2020.
According to its About page, the organization campaigns for safer food, clean drinking water, healthier homes, and products free from harmful chemicals. Its work focuses heavily on PFAS, plastics, phthalates, lead, arsenic, and other environmental health concerns. It also advocates for environmental justice and policies addressing climate change.
Read our profile on the United States government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
Defend Our Health is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. According to Cause IQ, it reported $819,835 in revenue and $1.76 million in expenses for 2024. Major funders included the Maine Community Foundation, Marisla Foundation, and Cedar Tree Foundation. It also awarded grants to Toxic-Free Future and the Ecology Center.
The organization is governed as a nonprofit rather than owned by an individual or corporation. IRS records confirm its nonprofit status and provide access to its financial filings.
Analysis / Bias
Defend Our Health is an advocacy organization rather than a neutral scientific or news outlet. Its strategy states that chemical exposure, environmental injustice, plastic pollution, and climate change result from powerful government and industry interests placing profit above public health. It seeks to change laws and corporate practices through grassroots organizing, lobbying, research, public pressure, and coalition building.
This framing reflects progressive positions on environmental regulation, corporate accountability, climate policy, racial equity, and government intervention. The organization routinely supports stronger chemical restrictions and portrays industry resistance as a threat to public health.
Its PFAS coverage describes PFAS as toxic “forever chemicals” linked to cancer, hormonal disruption, and immune-system effects. These general concerns are supported by government agencies and mainstream environmental health research. However, PFAS comprise thousands of chemicals with differing exposure levels, properties, and evidence of harm. Defend Our Health generally favors class-wide restrictions and emphasizes potential dangers more than scientific uncertainty, differences among compounds, or competing risk assessments.
In Detox Your Kitchen, the organization recommends avoiding PFAS cookware, plastic food containers, plastic utensils, plastic cutting boards, synthetic fragrances, and some conventional cleaning products. Much of the advice is precautionary and broadly reasonable, but the article occasionally uses categorical language such as calling plastic cutting boards sources of “toxic chemicals” without explaining how exposure levels affect actual health risk. It also relies on advocacy resources such as the Environmental Working Group for consumer guidance.
The organization’s research and policy reports often cite scientific literature, government data, product testing, public records, and recognized health experts. Its work on Maine PFAS contamination has also been cited by mainstream news organizations and has contributed to state and national policy discussions.
Overall, Defend Our Health generally uses credible evidence but presents it through an environmental activist framework. Its language can be urgent and one-sided, especially when discussing corporations, fossil fuels, plastics, and government regulators. Industry perspectives and scientific uncertainties receive less attention than evidence supporting stronger regulation.
Failed Fact Checks
- No failed fact checks involving Defend Our Health were found from FactCheck.org, Snopes, PolitiFact, or AP News. There is also no substantial evidence that the organization routinely publishes false health information. However, some consumer guidance simplifies complex toxicology questions and may present precautionary recommendations with more certainty than the evidence supports.
Overall, we rate Defend Our Health Left-Center biased based on its advocacy for environmental regulation, climate action, corporate accountability, environmental justice, and progressive public-health policies. We rate it Mostly Factual in reporting because its central claims are generally supported by scientific research, government data, testing, and credible reporting. However, its activist mission, urgent language, and limited presentation of competing risk assessments prevent a High rating. (D. Van Zandt 07/31/2026)
Source: https://defendourhealth.org/
Last Updated on July 31, 2026 by Media Bias Fact Check
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