Women's health and the environment in the 21st century.

For many years, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has been a leader in studying the role of environmental factors in the causation of diseases that are particularly prevalent or unique to women. As we enter the next millennium, we face exciting new possibilities in broadening our understanding of how the environment impacts women's health. Sophisticated new technology and scientific information are now available to help us more precisely define environmental contributions to disease. Moreover, further development of our information base in environmental health sciences will usher in a new era of informed preventive care for women of all ages. The hallmark of this new era will be our ability to finally address the etiology and prevention of disease, rather than simply focusing on treatment and management of human illness.