Council on Environmental Health

Mission - Membership - AAP Policy Documents - Pediatric Environmental Health, 3rd Ed - AAP News -
Article Reviews - Newsletters - Patient Education Brochures - Safety Net Supplement - Links - Roster

Mission

The Council on Environmental Health (COEH) advises the Board of Directors on issues pertaining to environmental health and toxic exposure. Council-authored policy statements address issues such as radiation disasters, air pollution, lead screening, and secondhand smoke. The council supports legislative initiatives designed to protect the health of the fetus, infant, and child from debilitating or hazardous environmental agents. The council also leads educational initiatives related to children's environmental health, including development of the Academy's landmark Pediatric Environmental Health manual, currently in its third edition.

Council on Environmental Health Membership

The Council on Environmental Health is the home for AAP members interested in and concerned about pediatric environmental health. Membership is currently open to all AAP Fellows and Residents located in the US and Canada. The council is led by a nine-member executive committee, elected by and from within the general council membership.

If you are interested in supporting and becoming involved in the Academy's education, networking, and advocacy efforts related to children's environmental health, please consider joining the council. The council's annual dues are $30; the application form can be accessed here.

Questions? Please contact Paul Spire at pspire@aap.org for additional details.

AAP Policy Documents Authored by the COEH

• Ambient Air Pollution: Health Hazards to Children
• Built Environment: Designing Communities to Promote Physical Activity in Children
• Chemical-Biological Terrorism and Its Impact on Children
• Chemicals Management Policy: Prioritizing Children's Health
• Drinking Water From Private Wells and Risks to Children - Policy Statement
• Drinking Water From Private Wells and Risks to Children - Technical Report
• Global Climate Change and Children's Health - Policy Statement
• Global Climate Change and Children's Health - Technical Report
• Infant Methemoglobinemia: The Role of Dietary Nitrate in Food and Water
• Lead Exposure in Children: Prevention, Detection, and Treatment
• Nontherapeutic Use of Antimicrobial Agents in Animal Agriculture: Implications for Pediatrics
• Radiation Disasters and Children
• Spectrum on Noninfectious Health Effects from Molds - Policy Statement
• Spectrum of Noninfectious Health Effects from Molds - Technical Report
• Tobacco Use: A Pediatric Disease - Policy Statement
• Tobacco Use: Secondhand and Prenatal Tobacco Smoke Exposure - Technical Report
• Ultraviolet Radiation: A Hazard to Children and Adolescents - Policy Statement
• Ultraviolet Radiation: A Hazard to Children and Adolescents - Technical Report

Pediatric Environmental Health, Third Edition
by American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health
Edited by Ruth A. Etzel, MD, PhD and Sophie J. Balk, MD

The comprehensive AAP guide to the identification, prevention, and treatment of pediatric environmental health problems puts answers to parents' questions at your fingertips. Environmental hazards are among parents top health concerns for their children. Yet little time is spent training physicians and other caregivers to recognize, prevent, and treat ailments resulting from exposure to harmful substances and environments. Chapters address air pollution, mercury, waste sites, environmental tobacco smoke, DEET use and other pesticides, and dozens of additional topics. Please click here for a complete list of chapters, plus the "Preface" and "Introduction" sections.

Available in hard-copy and electronically via the AAP's e-book platform. To purchase copies, please visit the AAP Online Bookstore or call 866-843-2271.

Recent Environmental Health-Related Articles in "AAP News"

• AAP continues push for environmental regulations that protect children (January 2012)
• More study needed on risk of brain tumors from cell phone use (October 2011)
• Academy calls for improved regulation of chemicals, safety standards (May 2011)
• Ultraviolet radiation reports shine light on how pediatricians can help patients avoid skin cancer (March 2011)
• Problem with plastics: Clinicians should become familiar with sources of phthalate exposure, health effects so they can counsel parents (August 2009)
• AAP boils down safety issues concerning well water consumption (June 2009)
• AAP helps win Supreme Court challenge over mercury emissions (April 2009)
• CDC guideline focuses on management of children with blood lead levels <10 µg/dL(March 2008)
• Minimizing lead exposure: As the nation re-emerges from a year of toy recalls, here is advice pediatricians can use when counseling parents (Jan 2008)
• What's the buzz?: Be prepared to answer parents' questions about insect repellents (July 2007)
• Listen up! MP3 players can cause hearing loss (May 2007)
• Nothing to sneeze at: When should pediatricians ask about a patient's exposure to mold? (December 2006)
• Waiver allows wide access to portable lead screening test (November 2006)
• Report on environmental chemicals useful tool for physicians (October 2005)
• AAP files legal challenge to EPA mercury rule (August 2005)
• DEET alternatives considered to be effective mosquito repellents (June 2005)
• PBDEs are ubiquitous, but effects of exposure unclear (January 2005)
• Breathing easier: AAP policy examines how decreased air pollution improves children's health (December 2004)
• Methylmercury and ethylmercury: Different sources, properties and concerns (July 2004)

Article Reviews

As a peer-to-peer benefit, COEH members periodically review and summarize recent articles in the literature relevant to children's environmental health. These summaries are shared via the COEH member ListServ; selected summaries are archived below. Please note that these reviews were developed by individual volunteer authors, and do not represent AAP Policy or COEH consensus.

• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Urinary Metabolites of Organophosphate Pesticides
• Prenatal Maternal Stress and Cord Blood Innate and Adaptive Cytokine Responses in an Inner-city Cohort
• Prenatal Phthalate Exposure is Associated with Childhood Behavior and Executive Functioning
• Prenatal Exposure to PBDEs and Neurodevelopment
• Prenatal and Postnatal Tobacco Exposure and Behavioral Problems in 10-year-old Children: Results from the GINI-plus Prospective Birth Cohort Study
• Occurrence of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in Fish: Results of a National Pilot Study in the U.S.
• US Children’s Exposure to Residential Dust Lead, 1999-2004: II. The Contribution of Lead-contaminated Dust to Children’s Blood Lead Levels
• Intrauterine Exposure to Environmental Pollutants and Body Mass Index during the First 3 Years of Life
• Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration With Medical Disorders and Laboratory Abnormalities in Adults
• Residential traffic and children’s respiratory health
• Drinking Water Disinfection By-Product Exposure and Fetal Growth
• Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Cell Phone Use and Behavioral Problems in Children
• Relationship of Thyroid Hormone Levels to Levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Lead, p,p´-DDE, and Other Toxicants in Akwesasne Mohawk Youth
• Economic Evaluation of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s SunWise Program: Sun Protection Education for Young Children
• Dietary Intake and its Contribution to Longitudinal Organophosphorus Pesticide Exposure in Urban/Suburban Children
• Baby Care Products: Possible Sources of Infant Phthalate Exposure
• Renal Effects of Dental Amalgam in Children: The New England Children’s Amalgam Trial
• Associations between cognitive function, blood lead concentration, and nutrition among children in the central Philippines
• Air Pollution and Postneonatal Infant Mortality in the United States, 1999–2002
• Dose-response relationship of prenatal mercury exposure and IQ: an integrative analysis of epidemiologic data
• Tobacco smoke exposure of pregnant mothers and blood pressure in their newborns: results from the wheezing illnesses study Leidsche Rijn birth cohort

Council on Environmental Health Newsletters

• Issue #1 - Summer 2005
• Issue #2 - Fall 2007
• Issue #3 - Fall 2009

Patient Education Brochures

The following Environmental Health-related AAP Patient Education Brochures are available for purchase in bulk quantities by contacting the AAP Bookstore online or by phone at 888-227-1770:

• Dangers of Secondhand Smoke
• Fun in the Sun: Keep Your Baby Safe
• Lead Screening for Children
• Risks of Tobacco Use: A Message for Parents and Teens
• Tobacco: Straight Talk for Teens
• Your Child and the Environment

Partnership to Establish an Environmental Health Safety Net for Children

This COEH-developed supplement to Pediatrics was published in July 2003. Articles include:

• Environmental Risk Communication for the Clinician
• Interpreting Epidemiologic Research: Lessons From Studies of Childhood Cancer
• How Environmental Exposures Influence the Development and Exacerbation of Asthma
• Herbal Remedies and Children: Do They Work? Are They Harmful?
• Evidence of Effects of Environmental Chemicals on the Endocrine System in Children
• Antibiotic Resistance: What Is the Impact of Agricultural Uses of Antibiotics on Children's Health?
• International Environmental Health for the Pediatrician: Case Study of Lead Poisoning
  

Articles are available online here. All articles are available free-of-charge to Pediatrics subscribers. Non-subscribers may download individual articles for a small fee. Follow the provided link for prices and details.

Selected Links

AAP Links
Searchable database of AAP policy documents and parent pages
AAP site on Children and Disasters

External Links
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Cancer Institute
National Center for Environmental Health
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
US Environmental Protection Agency
US EPA's Environmental Club for Students
US Food and Drug Administration

2011/2012 Council on Environmental Health Executive Committee Roster

- Chairperson -
Jerome A. Paulson, MD

- Executive Committee Members -
Alice Cantwell Brock-Utne, MD
Heather Brumberg, MD, MPH
Carla C. Campbell, MD, MS
Bruce Lanphear, MD, MPH
Kevin C. Osterhoudt, MD, MSCE
Megan T. Sandel, MD
Leo Trasande, MD, MPP
Robert O Wright, MD, MPH

- Liaisons -
Peter C. Grevatt, PhD
-- US Environmental Protection Agency
Mary Ellen Mortensen, MD, MS
-- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-- National Center for Environmental Health
Walter J. Rogan, MD
-- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Sharon Savage , MD
-- National Cancer Institute

- Manager -
Paul Spire
Division of Technical and Medical Services
American Academy of Pediatrics