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Protecting Children's Environmental Health in New England
- Native American proverb
Our Children
At EPA, protecting children, our youngest and most sensitive citizens, from environmental health risks is fundamental to our vision of making the world a better place for future generations. Today there are more than three million children living in the New England region, and the numbers are increasing.
- Compared to adults, children eat proportionately more food, drink more fluids and breathe more air than adults. As a result, they are exposed to more pollutants per pound of body weight than adults.
- Children may be more vulnerable than adults to environmental hazards because their systems are still developing, often making them less able to metabolize, detoxify and excrete toxins.
- Children's behavior patterns and natural curiosity can put them in harms way, which can increase their exposure to pollutants.
- Children are least able to protect themselves.
- They have a longer life expectancy.
- Fewer than half of the synthetic chemicals that have been developed and released to the environment have been tested for potential human toxicity, fewer still, for their potential effects on children.
- Children represent 25 % of our population, but 100% of our future.
Children grow best in healthy environments!
| Children's Environmental Health Champion |
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 Naomi Mermin, shown with Ruth McCully, Director of EPA's Office of Children's Environmental Health and Environmental Education, received an Environmental Health Champion Award in recognition of her work with childhood lead poisoning, asthma and creating healthy home environments in New England.
Click here to view the full story. |
| 2008 SHADE Poster Contest Winner | |
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EPA's SunWise Program teamed up with the SHADE Foundation of America, founded by Shonda Schilling--wife of Red Sox play Curt Schilling, and WeatherBug Schools to sponsor the Limit the Sun, Not the Fun 2008 SHADE Poster Contest in all 50 US states. Over the six years of the contest's existence, the total number of students participating has exceeded 65,000. Posters submitted to the contest are original, creative and suggest ways to prevent skin cancer and raise sun safety awareness. The 2008 SHADE Poster Contest winner was Jessica Waller, an eighth grader at the Maria Weston Chapman Middle School in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Her poster was selected from among 12,000 entries. As part of Jessica's prize, her school was presented with a weather instrumentation system from WeatherBug, allowing the school to participate in WeatherNet with the WBZ Weather Team. Jessica and her school were honored at a ribbon cutting ceremony at the school on September 22nd. For more information, visit www.epa.gov/sunwise and www.shadefoundation.org.
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| Pediatric Environmental Healthy Specialty Units |
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The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU) form a respected network of experts in children's environmental health. The PEHSU were created to ensure that children and communities have access to, usually at no cost, special medical knowledge and resources for children faced with a health risk due to a natural or human-made environmental hazard. Read more about the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units. New England Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit |
| Upcoming Events |
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October Is Children's Health Month!
October Calendar of Events:
CREATE A NEW CLIMATE FOR ACTION! Do Your Part for Climate Change and Children's Health -- Learn, Act, Lead
Indoor Air Quality Tools For Schools |
Healthy Schools: Lessons for a Clean Educational Environment (PDF) (16 pp., 999 KB, about PDF) What EPA is doing across the country to protect children's health |
Identify the Healthiest Fish to Eat |