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Research | Mini-Monograph
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| Privacy and Ethics in Pediatric Environmental Health Research—Part I: Genetic and Prenatal Testing Celia B. Fisher Center for Ethics Education, Fordham University, Bronx, New York, USA Abstract
The pressing need for empirically informed public policies aimed at understanding and promoting children's health has challenged environmental scientists to modify traditional research paradigms and reevaluate their roles and obligations toward research participants. Methodologic approaches to children's environmental health research raise ethical challenges for which federal regulations may provide insufficient guidance. In this article I begin with a general discussion of privacy concerns and informed consent within pediatric environmental health research contexts. I then turn to specific ethical challenges associated with research on genetic determinants of environmental risk, prenatal studies and maternal privacy, and data causing inflicted insight or affecting the informational rights of third parties. Key words: adolescents, confidentiality, environmental health, ethics, genetic determinants, informed consent, pediatric research, prenatal testing, privacy. Environ Health Perspect 114:1617–1621 (2006) . doi:10.1289/ehp.9003 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 14 August 2006]
This article is part of the mini-monograph "Ethical Issues in Pediatric Environmental Health Research." Address correspondence to C.B. Fisher, Center for Ethics Education, Fordham University, Dealy Hall, Psychology 441 East Fordham Rd., Bronx, NY 10458 USA. Telephone: (718) 817-3793. Fax: (212) 759-2009. E-mail: Fisher@Fordham.edu The writing of this article was partially supported by a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant (HD39332-02) awarded to C.B.F. The author declares she has no competing financial interests. Received 11 January 2006 ; accepted 19 April 2006.
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