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University of Illinois FRIENDS Children’s Environmental Health Center

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The FRIENDS Children’s Environmental Health Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, was established in 2001 to investigate the interactive effects of PCBs and methyl mercury (MeHg) on neurodevelopment.

Current research includes longitudinal assessment of a birth cohort exposed to these chemicals through maternal consumption of contaminated fish, and complementary laboratory-based projects including animal and in vitro models to determine the mechanisms through which these contaminants induce neurological deficits in children. The population being studied consists of Hmong and Laotian refugees who settled in northeastern Wisconsin after the Vietnam War and who regularly consume fish from the Fox River, which is often contaminated with PCBs and MeHg. A priority of the Center is to develop effective educational strategies to reduce exposure of this population to these fish-borne contaminants.

The Center is the collaborative effort of investigators in epidemiology, toxicology, biostatistics, and developmental psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Texas A & M University, the University of Oklahoma, the State University of New York at Buffalo, the New York State Department of Health, and Michigan State University, and includes an administrative core, a community-based project, two biomedical research projects and an analytical toxicology core.

Center Publications:

Views: All publications Selected publication types Journal articles Publications submitted after final report

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Main Center Abstract and Reports:

FRIENDS Children's Environmental Health Center

Center Research Projects:

R829390C001 - Neurobehavioral Effects of PCBs and Methylmercury in Rats

R829390C002 - Perinatal PCB Exposure and Neuropsychological/Auditory Function

R829390C003 - FRIENDS Analytical Toxicology Core Facility

R829390C004 - Developmental Effects of PCBs and Methylmercury

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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