Long before closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, many Pennsylvania schools faced a different health crisis: unsafe facilities. Crumbling buildings, asbestos, lead, and other school facility health and safety risks plague many schools across Pennsylvania, particularly in low-income districts and those that enroll a high percentage of Black and…

This dissertation has two areas of focus: learning and developmental disorders (LDDs) and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs). Epidemiological and exposure assessment methods are applied to each. The first paper used geographic location as a surrogate for exposure and broadly assesses the effect of the environment, both physical and social, on LDD…