Journalists have reported large-scale lead poisoning affecting children in cities such as Flint, Michigan. Unfortunately, children's exposure to lead is not isolated and occurs throughout the country in both urban and rural settings. The effects of lead exposure can cause children to develop disabilities, potentially requiring special education…

Child environmental health (CEH) science has identified numerous effects of early life exposures to common, ubiquitous environmental toxicants. CEH scientists have documented the costs not only to individual children but also to population-level health effects of such exposures. Importantly, such risks are unequally distributed in the population,…

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that to protect and promote the health of all children, robust environmental health protections must be in place, and the inequities that lead to environmental injustice must be eliminated. The environment is a powerful social determinant of health and a critical factor in our…

Lead poisoning has well-known impacts for the developing brain of young children, with a large literature documenting the negative effects of elevated blood lead levels on academic and behavioral outcomes. In April of 2014, the municipal water source in Flint, Michigan was changed, causing lead from aging pipes to leach into the city's drinking…

Elevated blood lead levels in children--even at very low levels--contribute to learning deficits and behavioral and attentional problems. No federal law requires the testing of drinking water in schools, and recent reports from the Government Accountability Office reveal a dearth of lead testing of water or paint in school buildings. This NASBE…

UNICEF Innocenti's Report Card 17 explores how the 43 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and/or the European Union (EU) countries are faring in providing healthy environments for children. Do children have clean water to drink? Do they have good-quality air to breathe? Are their homes free of lead and mould? How many…

The recent more-than-human turn has increased interest in writing about relations between humans and other animals. In addition, scholars have called for a need to complement the animal turn with a turn to microbes. Microbes entangle all life in relations and participate in processes of living and dying, but thus far, they have been largely absent…

Children spend as much as ten hours per day, five days a week in childcare centers and preschools. In providing healthy environments, these facilities deal with a variety of pest and pesticide issues influenced by their geographic location, local environment, and pesticide regulations. Some rely extensively on pesticides while others use…

Children are uniquely vulnerable to environmental contaminants. Their bodies are still developing, they eat, drink, and breathe more per pound of body weight than adults, they have lungs that are still developing, and they may be more exposed to hazards and unaware of how to protect themselves. Lead exposure can cause serious damage to children's…

In seeking an avenue to save money, an urban city made a choice to alter the drinking water for its residents and created a crisis, which all community stakeholders were unprepared to address. The Flint water crisis has been given national attention by celebrities and politicians, but the long-term issues related to families, children, and…

The purpose of the National Conference was for attendees to: (1) Review research and policy recommendations and goals identified at the November 2015 "Environmental Health at School: Ignored Too Long" panel and facilitated workshop; (2) Hear about risks and exposures at schools and their impact on children; (3) Understand the Centers for…

There is a growing body of evidence linking childhood exposure to environmental toxins and a range of adverse health outcomes, including preterm birth, cognitive deficits, and cancer. Little is known, however, about what drives mothers to engage in health behaviors to reduce such risks. Guided by the integrative model of behavioral prediction,…

In theory, improving low-income families' housing and neighborhoods could also improve their children's health, through any number of mechanisms. For example, less exposure to environmental toxins could prevent diseases such as asthma; a safer, less violent neighborhood could improve health by reducing the chances of injury and death, and by…

Nine percent of young U.S. children live in deep poverty, with state rates ranging from 17 percent in Mississippi to 4 percent in Utah. The families of these children have incomes below 50 percent of the federal poverty line, or less than $10,289 for a family of one parent and two children. Understanding more about the early health and development…

As U.S. infant mortality remains relatively unchanged and maternal mortality is rising, it is increasingly clear that service providers need to address many of the modifiable risks that determine birth outcomes prior to pregnancy. Health professionals have promoted preconception care for decades as a way to improve women's and infant's health. Yet…