Children’s Environmental Health: Online Resources for Health Care Providers
The Children’s Environmental Health (CEH) resources listed below are available free-of-charge online. The list was developed as an informal starting point for health care providers (HCP) to learn more about pediatric environmental health. We have confined our list to materials that are:
- Produced in the United States or in the North American Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) Network
- Accessible in electronic format on the Web
- Derived from U.S. Government sources, PEHSU’s, and other non-governmental organizations partnering with the U.S. Government on CEH issues
General Information
Air Quality
Asthma
Lead
Mercury
Mold
Pesticides
Water
Climate Change
General Information
U.S. Government Resources:
- Case Studies in
Environmental
Medicine.
From the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
Description: Self-instructional publications designed to increase the primary care provider's knowledge of hazardous substances in the environment and to aid in the evaluation of potentially exposed patients. Examples include Taking an Exposure History and Pediatric Environmental Health - Especially
for Health Professionals
From the National Library of Medicine: Environmental Health and Toxicology Specialized Information Services - Toxicity and Exposure
Assessment for Children’s Health (TEACH)
From the U.S. EPA
Description: Scientific information for 18 chemicals or chemical groups of concern to children.
Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs)
Resources:
Web sites for most of the North American PEHSUs are listed below.
Following the
PEHSU list are specific Web-based materials from the PEHSUs.
México: Unidad Pediatrica Ambiental
Canada: Pediatric Environmental Health Clinic AOEC Clinic Directory: Misericordia Child Health Centre
United States of America:- Region 1: New England Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit
- Region 2: Mount Sinai Pediatric Environmental Health Unit
- Region 3: Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health & the Environment
- Region 4: Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit
- Region 5: Great Lakes Center for Children's Environmental Health
- Region 6: Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health
- Region 7: MidAmerica Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit
- Region 8: Rocky Mountain Regional Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit
- Region 9: Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit/University of California
- Region 10: Northwest Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit
- Pediatric
Environmental
Health
History
From the Pediatric Environmental Health Unit of Cambridge Hospital and Children's Hospital, Boston
Description: PowerPoint presentation by Rose H. Goldman, MD MPH Michael Shannon, MD MPH, Alan Woolf, MD MPH - Environmental
Health History
Questionnaire (English and Spanish)
From the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health (Region 6 PEHSU) - Pediatric
Environmental
Health
Issues: An Introduction
From the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Description: Presentation by Joel Forman, MD - Schools as a
Pediatric
Environment
From the SW Center for Pediatric Environmental Health The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler
Description: Presentation by Larry K. Lowry, PhD, Jeffrey L. Levin, MD, MSPH - Developmental
Pediatrics: Children and the Environment
From the Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (Region 4 PEHSU)
Description: PowerPoint presentation - Tutorials In
Environmental And Occupational Health
From the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health and Environment at George Washington University (Region 3 PEHSU)
Description: Series of tutorial PowerPoint presentations on many environmental contaminants, including lead, arsenic, mercury, various pesticides (DDT, atrizine, aldrin/dieldrin, diazinon), chlorine, gasoline, PCBs. - Pediatric
Environmental Health
Specialty
Units (PEHSUs)
From the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC)
Description: Portal page to all Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units in North America
- Training
Package for Health Care Providers
From the World Health Organization - Pediatric
Environmental Health Toolkit
From the Physicians for Social Responsibility - Training
Manual on Pediatric Environmental Health: Putting it Into
Practice
From the Children’s Environmental Health Network
Description: Download entire manual or individual modules. -
ENVIRODX
From Eddy A. Bresnitz
Description: Multimedia, case-focused, computer-based learning program on environmental-related diseases. - Pediatric
Environmental
History Initiative
From the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation
Description: Includes history form and history primer. - In Harm's
Way
From the Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (GBPSR)
Description: Training materials
Description: A collection of over 30 modules with internationally harmonized information and peer-reviewed materials to enable health care workers to be trained, and also to become trainers of their peers and colleagues. The modules include extensive notes and references, case studies and self-evaluation tools, backed up by manuals and guidelines. A selected team of experienced professionals from over 15 countries, the International Paediatric Association (IPA) and selected NGOs are participating in its preparation.
Description: A clinical tool that includes reference and anticipatory guidance materials for providers and patients including desk and pocket references for providers, and "Rx for Prevention" slips, magnets, and posters for patients.
- Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies,
Healthy Environments: A Nurse's Role in Assessing and Addressing the
Health
Risks to Mothers and Babies from Environmental Exposures
From Healthcare Without Harm - Children’s Health and the
Environment: Nursing Continuing Education Modules
From the American Nurses Foundation/American Nurses Association
Description: Three training modules: Environmentally Healthy Homes and Communities; Safe Work Places and Healthy Learning Places (Environmentally Healthy Schools), and Environmental Health in Health Care Settings. - EnviRN
From the University of Maryland
Description: Resources list and links for environmental nursing.
Air Quality
U.S. Government Resources:
- Ozone and Your Patients’
Health
From the U.S. EPA
Description: An online training with clinical scenarios. - Radon: The
Health
Threat with a Simple Solution - A Physician’s Guide
From the U.S. EPA
Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs) Resources:
- Impacts of
Criteria Air
Pollutants on the Respiratory Health of Children
From John R. Balmes, MD, University of California, San Francisco
Description: PowerPoint presentation - Recognizing
the Impact of
Air
Pollution
on
Children's Health
From Larry K. Lowry, PhD, Jeffrey L. Levin, MD, MSPH, Debra C. Cherry, MD, MS, Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler
Description: Presentation - Environmental
Factors in Pediatric Respiratory Disease
From the Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit
Description: PowerPoint Presentation - Pulmonary
Clinical Evaluation Form
From the Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit
Asthma
U.S. Government Resources:
- Asthma and
Indoor
Environments: Health Care Professionals
From the U.S. EPA
Description: Includes an In-Home Assessment Checklist to help health care plans incorporate in-home environmental management into their comprehensive asthma care programs. - Case
Studies
in Environmental Medicine: Environmental Triggers of Asthma
From the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) - Asthma
-
A Speakers Kit for Public Health Professionals
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Environmental Health - Breath of
Life
From the National Library of Medicine
Description: Contains resources, research, interactives. - Clearing the Air:
Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures. 2000.
From the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine
PEHSU and Other Non-Governmental Organization Resources (NOTE: Some of these products have been U.S. Government funded):
- An Overview of
Asthma
and the Environment
From the University of California at San Francisco Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit - Pediatric Asthma
Initiative
From The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation
Description: Includes an environmental history form, guidelines for environmental management of pediatric asthma, etc.
Lead
U.S. Government Resources:
- Case
Studies
in
Environmental Medicine: Lead Toxicity
From the Agency for Toxics Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) - Video: Lead
Medical Grand Rounds
From the Agency for Toxics Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
Description: The goal of the video is to increase the viewer's knowledge of lead toxicity and their ability to evaluate potentially exposed patients.
PEHSU and Other Non-Governmental Organization Resources (NOTE: Some of these products have been U.S. Government funded):
- Children’s
Environmental Health Case Study
3: Lead Exposure
From the Great Lakes Center for Children’s Environmental Health (Region 5 PEHSU) - Lead Poisoning
in
Children: An
Introduction
From the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Description: Presentation by Joel Forman, MD - Lead - It's
Everywhere
From the West Virginia University School of Medicine
Description: PowerPoint presentation by Alan M. Ducatman, MD, MSc
Mercury
U.S. Government Resources:
- Mercury Resources
for
Healthcare Providers
From the U.S. EPA -
What
You
Need to Know about Mercury in Fish and Shellfish
From the U.S. EPA
PEHSU and Other Non-Governmental Organization Resources (NOTE: Some of these products have been U.S. Government funded):
- Children’s
Environmental Health Case Study 2:
Elemental
Mercury Exposure
From the Great Lakes Center for Children’s Environmental Health - Mercury in a
Home
From Larry K. Lowry, PhD, Debra C. Cherry, MD, MS, SW Center for Pediatric Environmental Health. University of Texas Health Center at Tyler and Larissa Velez, MD, North Texas Poison Center, Dallas
Description: PowerPoint presentation - Toxicological
Effects
of Methylmercury
National Research Council
Mold
U.S. Government Resources:
- Online Course:
Introduction to Mold and Mold Remediation for Environmental and Public Health
Professionals
From the U.S. EPA
Description: This course contains information on mold prevention and remediation and is designed primarily for environmental and public health professionals. If you would like to take a short quiz on your current mold knowledge, you can begin with the Pre-Test.
The Mold Course has nine chapters; these chapters are further divided into smaller lessons. At the end of each chapter there is a voluntary quiz to test your understanding of the material covered. Each chapter may be accessed at any point in the course using the menu on the left side of the page. -
Indoor Mold and Children’s Health Paper Abstracts
From the National Institutes of Health
Description: Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 107, Supplement 3. 1999. Peer-reviewed papers presented at work- shop on Indoor Mold and Children’ s Health. Scroll down to Table of Contents; then scroll down to Indoor Mold and Children’s Health
Non-Governmental Organization Resources (NOTE: Some of these products have been U.S. Government funded):
- Guidance For
Clinicians on the Recognition and Management of Health Effects
Related to Mold
Exposure and Moisture Indoors (PDF), 2004
From the University of Connecticut Health Center - Fungal Glossary
From the University of Minnesota, Environmental Health and Safety
Description: Includes an airborne fungal glossary, health effects, and photos.
Pesticides
U.S. Government Resources:
- Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings, 5th Edition. EPA 735R-98-003 1999 (PDF) (238 pp, 895K, about PDF). Available in English and Spanish.
PEHSU and Other Non-Governmental Organization Resources (NOTE: Some of these products have been U.S. Government funded):
- Organophosphate
Pesticides and Child Health: A Primer for Health Care Providers
From the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health (PNASH) Center and the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) in Seattle, Washington
Description: An educational activity to: 1) increase the knowledge of health care providers about the special susceptibilities of children to organophosphate pesticides; and 2) increase competency to recognize and respond to childhood pesticide-related illness. - National
Strategies of Pesticides and Health Care Providers
From The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF) and U.S. EPA
Description: Includes National Pesticides Competency Guidelines for Medical and Nursing Education, National Pesticide Practice Skills Guidelines for Medical and Nursing Practice. - Children’s
Environmental Health Case Study 1: Exposure to Methyl Parathion
From the Great Lakes Center for Children’s Environmental Health - Pesticide
Illness
PowerPoint presentation by Rupali Das, MD, MPH, California Department of Health Services, Michael O’Malley, MD, MPH, University of California, Davis, and Laura Styles, MPH, Public Health Institute. - National Pesticide Information
Center
From the Oregon State University and the U.S. EPA
Description: Science-based pesticide information on wide range of topics. Also has list of state and regional poison control centers. - EXTOXNET - Extension
Toxicology Network
From the University of California-Davis, Oregon State University, Michigan State University, Cornell University, and the University of Idaho
Description: Provides science-based information to health care providers treating pesticide-related health concerns.
Water
U.S. Government Resources:
- Tap into Prevention:
Drinking Water Information for Health Care Providers - A Continuing
Education
Video
From the U.S. EPA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and its Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry (ATSDR)
Description: A 30-page booklet available online accompanies the continuing education video.
Other Non-Governmental Organization Resources (NOTE: Some of these products have been U.S. Government funded):
- Recognizing
Waterborne Disease and the Health Effects of Water Pollution:
Physician’s
On-Line Training Guide
From the American College of Preventive Medicine
Description: Users are required to register, but access is free unless Continuing Medical Education Credits are desired.
Climate Change
Other Non-Governmental Organization Resources (NOTE: Some of these products have been U.S. Government funded):
- Climate Change and Children’s Health: What Health Professionals Need to
Know and What We Can Do About It (PDF) (25 pp, 1.2MB)
From The Collaborative on Health and the Environment
Description: The article: summarizes the latest conclusions on climate change and discusses its main health effects with a primary focus on children; explains why scientists say that stopping the pace of climate change is such an urgent issue; and discusses what you can do in your community to prepare for climate change. - Global Climate Change and Children's Health Policy Statement
From the American Academy of Pediatrics
Description: This policy statement is supported by a technical report that examines in some depth the nature of the problem of climate change, likely effects on children's health as a result of climate change, and the critical importance of responding promptly and aggressively to reduce activities that are contributing to this change.