EPA Highlights Advances in Children’s Health Research and Releases Outreach Materials
WASHINGTON (October 14, 2020) — As part of its ongoing celebration of Children’s Health Month, this week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is highlighting key advances in children’s health research. Throughout the agency’s 50-year history, EPA has made significant progress to protect children from environmental risks in places where children live, learn, and play and continually educate the public through the agency’s annual Protecting Children’s Health brochure.
“EPA’s research on children’s environmental health advances scientific understanding and helps create better environments that protect the health of children,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “We must keep the rate of our progress in research ahead of the pace of emerging challenges. To do this, we will focus more of our research and attention on what influence environmental stressors have on early childhood development.”
Environmental contaminants can affect children differently than adults. Children may be more highly exposed to contaminants and are often more vulnerable to the effects of contaminants. EPA researchers are working to stay ahead of emerging children’s environmental health challenges by providing data and information on the environment and children’s health. Some highlights of work being conducted include:
In August 2020, EPA announced the request for applications to support a new Center for Early Lifestage Vulnerabilities to Environmental Stressors. The Agency is interested in supporting a transdisciplinary research center to better understand potential causal relationships among cumulative exposures to chemicals and non-chemical environmental stressors during early lifestages and modifying factors that result in adverse developmental health effects during early childhood. EPA is accepting applications now through November 12, 2020. For more information, visit: https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/center-early-lifestage-vulnerabilities-environmental-stressors.
In September 2020, EPA collaborated with the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics on the annual America's Children Report. This year’s report highlights selected indicators by metropolitan status, giving a closer look at how well-being is influenced by the type of community in which children live.
EPA continues to update its America’s Children and the Environment indicators by compiling and making available to a broad audience, data from a variety of sources to show trends and key information important to children's health. Indicators updated this year include environmental data on contaminants in the air and water and health indicators on the rates of asthma and neurodevelopment disorders in children. EPA hopes that continued development and presentation of these indicators support the identification and evaluation of ways to minimize environmental impacts on children, motivate continuing research, inform discussion with policymakers, and the collection of additional data and, when appropriate, necessary interventions.
Additionally, in celebration of Children’s Health Month, EPA today released a poster of tips to keep children and families safe from environmental hazards.
To view the poster in English: https://www.epa.gov/children/protecting-childrens-health-october-2020-tips.
To view the poster in Spanish: https://espanol.epa.gov/espanol/octubre-es-el-mes-de-la-salud-infantil.
To learn more about on children’s environmental health research: https://www.epa.gov/children/childrens-environmental-health-research.
To view the full set of America’s Children and the Environment indicators: https://www.epa.gov/americaschildrenenvironment.
To learn more about what EPA is doing to protect children’s health: https://www.epa.gov/children.