As part of its ongoing cooperative agreements with the Agency for Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), AOEC has established a network of Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs). Each PEHSU is based at an aoec member clinic at an academic center and is a 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. Services are often initiated regionally or can be coordinated across the network. Requests can be directed to local PEHSUs or to the AOEC office.
The PEHSU staff is available for consultation about potential pediatric environmental health concerns affecting both the child and the family. Health care professionals may contact their regional PEHSU site for clinical advice. Parents are encouraged to consult their primary care health providers first and have them call the nearest PEHSU for advice. By engaging their personal clinician, medical evaluations can be initiated sooner and the personal physicians' awareness of any environmental health is enhanced. If the primary care provider is unable to contact the PEHSU, parents may consult them directly.
Parents and members of the general public may be interested in sources of information about children's environmental health. In addition to individual and public health investigations, each PEHSU offers educational materials and programs regarding children's environmental health. Much of this information (is) CAN BE found on the PEHSU websites.
Primary funding for the PEHSUs comes from ATSDR and EPA.
In addition to the PEHSU web site information, parents may be interested in web sites designed specifically for parents. The Children's Health Environmental Coalition's (CHEC's) mission is to inform parents and all those concerned with the welfare of children about preventable problems caused by exposures to toxic substances in homes, schools and communities. The CHEC web site provides a range children's environmental health information. The Children's Environmental Health Network (CEHN) 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.
AOEC and the PEHSUs are not affiliated with CHEC or CEHN.
CHEC has its own scientific advisory board that reviews its posted materials. CEHN has both a board of directors and a science committee providing oversight of material posted on its web site. Listings of both boards and committees can be found on the respective web sites. In addition to the information on their web sites, both CHEC and CEHN provide list serves for lay people to express concerns and opinions, some of which do not necessarily correspond to general medical standards or PEHSU practice. CEHN also has a moderated list serve for health professionals only but the archives of that list are available for non-professionals to review through the CEHN web site.
New Resources
Clinician Recommendations
Regarding Return of Children to Areas Impacted by Flooding and/or Hurricanes:
A Joint Statement from the Pediatric
Environmental Health Specialty Units and the American Academy of Pediatrics
10/7/2005
In collaboration with the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT), a team of PEHSU staff reviewed the following monographs. These documents are designed to assist PEHSU staff and other health professionals respond to inquiries from patients about these challenging topics.