Pediatric Environmental Health

A 2023 Doodys Core Title

Ruth A. Etzel, MD, PhD, FAAP is an internationally recognized pediatrician, environmental epidemiologist, and preventive medicine specialist. She performed the first study to document that children with secondhand exposure to tobacco smoke had measurable exposure to nicotine. Her pioneering work led to nationwide efforts to reduce indoor exposure to tobacco, including the ban on smoking in US airliners. She also produced the first research to show that exposure to toxigenic molds in the home could be dangerous to infants' health. She served on the AAP Committee on Environmental Health from 1986 to 1995 and chaired it from 1995 to 1999. From 2009-2012 she led the World Health Organization's activities to protect children from environmental hazards. She is the co-editor of the Textbook of Children's Environmental Health. Sophie J. Balk, MD, FAAP is a general pediatrician at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore and Professor of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY. Her academic work focuses on educating clinicians about pediatric environmental health. She is a past member and chairperson of the AAP Council on Environmental Health, and a past member of the AAP Section on Tobacco Control Executive Committee. She has served as Associate Editor of the 4 editions of Pediatric Environmental Health. Dr. Balk has published and lectured on skin cancer prevention, tobacco issues, and other environmental health issues relevant to pediatric practice.

I. Background: Addressing Environmental Health in Primary Care 01 Introduction 02 History and Growth of Pediatric Environmental Health 03 Children's Unique Vulnerabilities to Environmental Hazards 04 Individual Susceptibility to Environmental Toxicants 05 Taking an Environmental History and Giving Anticipatory Guidance 06 Laboratory Testing of Body Fluids and Tissues 07 Environmental Measurements 08 Toxic or Environmental Preconceptional and Prenatal Exposures II. Environments 09 Built Environment 10 Child Care Settings 11 Schools 12 Work Places 13 Waste Sites 14 Environmental Health Considerations for Children from Low- and Middle-Income Countries III. Food and Water 15 Human Milk 16 Environmental Concerns and Contaminants of Infant Formula 17 Water 18 Food Safety 19 Herbs, Dietary Supplements, and Other Remedies IV. Chemical and Physical Exposures 20 Air Pollutants, Indoor 21 Air Pollutants, Outdoor 22 Alternative Nicotine Delivery SystemsX 23 Arsenic 24 Asbestos 25 Cadmium, Chromium, Manganese, and Nickel 26 Carbon Monoxide 27 Cold and Heat 28 Electric and Magnetic Fields 29 Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals 30 Gasoline and Its Additives 31 Ionizing Radiation (Excluding Radon) 32 Lead 33 Mercury 34 Nitrates and Nitrites in Water 35 Noise 36 Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)X 37 Persistent Organic Pollutants - DDT, PCBs, PCDFs, and Dioxins 38 Persistent Toxic Substances 39 Personal Care ProductsX 40 Pesticides 41 Plasticizers 42 Radon 43 Tobacco Use and Tobacco Smoke Exposure 44 Ultraviolet Radiation V. Special Topics 45 Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Animal Agriculture 46 Arts and Crafts 47 Asthma 48 Birth Defects and Other Adverse Developmental Outcomes 49 Cancer 50 Chelation (Non-Approved Use of for ""Environmental Toxicants"") 51 Chemical-Biological Terrorism 52 Developmental Disabilities 53 Drug (Methamphetamine) Laboratories 54 Emerging Technologies and Materials 55 Environmental Disasters 56 Environmental Equity 57 Ethical Issues in Environmental Health Research 58 Global Climate Change 59 Green Offices and Practice SustainabilityX 60 Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance 61 ObesityX 62 Unconventional Gas Extraction (Fracking)X VI. Public Health Aspects of Environmental Health 63 Environmental Health Advocacy 64 Precautionary Principle 65 Risk Assessment, Risk Management, and Risk Communication 66 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)X VII. Resources A Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) ProgramX B Resources for Pediatric Environmental Health C Curricula for Environmental Education and Environmental Health Science Education in Primary and Secondary Schools D AAP Policy Statements - COEH E Common Abbreviations F Chairs of the COEH