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Today, we are all susceptible to a host of environmental toxins from the water we drink, the air we breathe, foods we eat, and even our own homes. As a parent, you want to do everything you can do to protect your children. The resources listed below can provide information you need to help keep your children safe.

EPA Office of Children's Health Protection and Environmental Education

Outreach and Partnerships

Public involvement is key to protecting human health and the environment. Citizens and communities need to have information and tools that enable them to take steps toward protecting their children from environmental health threats. Organizations, industry and government entities at all levels also need information to help them take child-protective actions. Providing basic information is a key focus of OCHP.

OCHP efforts to build community capacity in children's environmental health protection include:
1. Providing information and tools to the public;
2. Supporting community actions to protect children;
3. Increasing the ability of health care providers to identify, prevent, and reduce environmental health threats to children;
4. Engaging youth in children's environmental health protection; and
5. Working with states to develop programs to address children's environmental health issues.

EPA’s Healthy School Environments. The Healthy School Environments Web pages are intended to serve as a gateway to on-line resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.

EPA’s Toxicity and Exposure Assessment for Children's Health (TEACH).This searchable database contains overviews of scientific literature in the field of children's* environmental health. TEACH currently contains over 1,400 references from January 1972 to January 2003. These references cover information on environmental contaminants that potentially impact children's health and are updated annually.

Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs). As part of its ongoing cooperative agreements with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), AOEC has formed a project establishing Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units. The PEHSUs include the collaboration between the pediatric clinic and the AOEC occupational and environmental clinic at each site. The PEHSU's have been developed to provide education and consultation for health professionals, public health professionals and others about the topic of children's environmental health. AOEC coordinates the activities for all of the PEHSUs. Primary funding for the PEHSUs comes from the ATSDR and EPA. Some of the Children’s Environmental Health Centers have associated Pediatric Specialty Units. When available, these are noted on the specific Centers summary page or related links. In addition there are numerous Pediatric Units that function independently from any Center.

The National Children's Study (NCS) logo
The National Children’s Study (NCS). In contrast to the EPA/NIEHS Children’s Centers, which focus on specific environmental exposures, populations and geographic regions, the NCS Study will be national in scope and include 100,000 children and families from different areas of the country, from varied backgrounds, and of different family types, to allow investigation of issues relevant to the diverse U.S. population. The children enrolled in the NCS will be studied from before birth through age 21. The National Children’s Study will address multiple questions on multiple issues, to provide as much information as possible on health and development. This study is led by a consortium of federal agency partners: the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (including the and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [NIEHS], two parts of the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

International Childhood Cancer Cohort Consortium — The ICCCC will bring together large cohort studies from across the globe to facilitate the study of rare disease outcomes (such as childhood cancer) which cannot be definitively studied in smaller groups.

World Health Organization (WHO): Long-term studies on children's health and the environment: Identifying, assessing and following up the effects of exposure to environmental factors Exit EPA Disclaimer

There is growing evidence regarding the association between the environment and children's health and children's greater susceptibility to environmental risk factors, particularly in utero and the first two years of life. The outcomes of environmental exposures early in life are often subtle but may have major consequences later in life, impacting health, development, productivity and quality of life. In developing countries, unhealthy environments account for a significant proportion of children's morbidity and mortality, confounded by malnutrition and infectious diseases.

What are the Long Term Cohort Studies (LTCS) of environmental influences on children's health? Comprehensive studies using innovative approaches for identifying and assessing the effects of a broad range of environmental factors on children's health, covering their main developmental periods. LTCS proved, for example, the long-term effects of certain pollutants such as lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs ) and pesticides, especially dangerous for children and their developing nervous systems.

President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children.The President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children was established in April 1997 by Executive Order 13045 , and is co-chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The E.O. directed each Federal Agency to make it a high priority to identify, assess, and address children's environmental health and safety risks. The Task Force is composed of sixteen departments and White House offices The E.O. provided an opportunity for Federal Departments and Agencies to work together to improve the environmental health and safety of America's children. The Task Force initially identified four priority areas for immediate attention: asthma, unintentional injuries, developmental disorders (including lead poisoning), and cancer. Since then the Task Force has added environmental health in schools, the National Children's Study and Children's Health Month to its interagency activities.

Voluntary Children's Chemical Evaluation Program (VCCEP). In the December 26, 2000 Federal Register, EPA announced the Voluntary Children's Chemical Evaluation Program (VCCEP) which is intended to provide data to enable the public to understand the potential health risks to children associated with certain chemical exposures. EPA asked companies which manufacture and/or import 23 chemicals which have been found in human tissues and the environment in various monitoring programs to volunteer to sponsor their evaluation in Tier 1 of a pilot of the VCCEP. Thirty-five companies and ten consortia responded and volunteered to sponsor 20 chemicals.
Because the ultimate objective of the VCCEP is to evaluate the potential risks posed to children by exposure to certain chemicals, EPA is requesting information on both hazard (health effects) and exposure. The health effects information being requested is a subset of the test battery developed by the EPA to assess the effects of pesticides on children's health. EPA's Science Advisory Panel advised that the test battery would also be appropriate in the VCCEP to assess the health effects of industrial chemicals to which children might be exposed.

The EPA Lead-Related Information website provides access to information on all aspects of the Federal lead poisoning prevention program, with a special focus on the efforts within the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), and includes the National Lead Information Center Hotline at 1-800-LEAD-FYI.

Remodeling or Renovating a Home with Lead-Based Paint is a hazard because improperly conducted renovations in housing with lead-based paint can create serious health hazards to workers and residents by releasing large amounts of lead dust and debris. Information is provided on the requirements for conducting renovations in pre-1978 housing.

The Residential Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Program recognizes that families have a right to know about lead-based paint and potential lead hazards in their homes. EPA and HUD have worked together to develop disclosure requirements for sales and leases of older housing.

"Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" (PDF) (17 pp, 674 KB, about PDF), also available in Spanish, is a pamphlet containing information regarding the health risks associated with exposure to lead and lead-based paint in the home, and how to reduce your risk.

"Finding a Qualified Lead Professional for Your Home" (PDF) (2pp., 12.8Kb, about PDF) is a pamphlet to help assist homeowners in finding a qualified lead professional to test for lead-based paint.

The National Lead Information Center (NLIC). NLIC provides the general public and professionals with information about lead hazards and their prevention. NLIC operates under a contract with EPA, with funding from EPA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

10 Tips to Protect Children from Pesticide and Lead Poisonings

Pesticides and Child Safety. Although pesticides can be beneficial to society, they can be dangerous if used carelessly or if they are not stored properly and out of the reach of children. According to data collected from the American Association of Poison Control Centers, in 2002 alone, an estimated 69,000 children were involved in common household pesticide-related poisonings or exposures in the United States. An additional 26,338 children were exposed to or poisoned by household chlorine bleach.

Related Links

Children's Health Environmental Coalition -- The mission of this Web site is to inform parents and all of those concerned with the welfare of children about preventable health and developmental problems caused by exposures to toxic substances in homes, schools, and communities. Exit EPA Disclaimer Children's Environmental Health Network is a national multi-disciplinary organization whose mission is to protect the fetus and the child from environmental health hazards and promote a healthy environment. Exit EPA Disclaimer

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