Children's Environmental Health Center
Protecting the health and future of our children is important to all Californians. The Children’s Environmental Health Center (CEHC) was established in the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) by the Children’s Environmental Health Protection Act (Escutia, Chapter 731, Statutes of 1999) to ensure that CalEPA’s programs specifically protect children’s health in California. In 2012, OEHHA was designated as the lead agency to coordinate and manage the CEHC. The Children’s Environmental Health Center serves as a resource for CalEPA and the State of California, performs outreach and education for the medical and public health community as well as for the general public, and coordinates with the CalEPA boards and departments to promote policies and efforts that protect children’s health.
Children can be more affected by environmental chemicals than adults. They eat, drink, and breathe more per pound of body weight than adults. Thus, children’s exposures to contaminants in our air, water, and food are higher than an adult in the same setting. Because children are still growing and developing, they can be more sensitive to the adverse health effects of chemicals than an adult. In some cases, the effects are irreversible. It is increasingly recognized that exposures early in life affect adult health. Thus, the work of the CalEPA Boards, Departments and Offices (BDOs) to reduce children’s exposures to environmental chemicals benefits people throughout their lifetime.
Key CEHC Activities
Children’s Environmental Health Resources
- Fact sheet on Children and Heat
- Երեխաները եւ տաքը — Պաշտպանեցէ՛ք նորածինները, երեխաները եւ պատանիները
- 儿童与高温——保护婴幼儿、儿童和青少年
- 兒童與高溫－保護嬰兒、兒童及青少年
- 어린이와 더위 — 유아, 어린이, 청소년 보호하기
- Los niños y el calor - Proteja a bebés, niños y adolescentes
- Mga bata at init — Protektahan ang mga sanggol, bata at teenager
- Trẻ em và nhiệt — Bảo vệ trẻ sơ sinh, trẻ em và thanh thiếu niên
- Fact sheet on Pregnancy and Heat
- Proposition 65 warnings and factsheets
- Fish Advisories
- CalEnviroscreen’s indicator for Children’s risk from lead in housing
- Factsheets for purchasing school art supplies
- Guidance for Schools during Wildfire Health Events
Other OEHHA efforts relating to children's health include:
Documents
Children's Health News
Frequently asked questions on the environmental health study of synthetic turf
Request that NTP conduct toxicological studies to enhance our understanding of the health impacts of chemicals released from synthetic turf, with an emphasis on the crumb rubber in the fields.
2016 OEHHA, Western States PEHSU at UCSF, and UC Berkeley CIRCLE children’s environmental health symposium exploring "New Findings from California”.
The first Synthetic Turf Scientific Advisory Panel Meeting was held on Monday, February 8, 2016.
Biographies are available for the members of the Synthetic Turf Scientific Advisory Panel. This panel provides advice on the design and implementation of OEHHA’s synthetic turf study.
Three public workshops and an interactive webinar held to receive public comments on OEHHA's synthetic turf study. An informational poster and agendas for the workshops are available.
A study by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment suggests heat exposure may lead to a greater risk of infant mortality.
In 2015, OEHHA hosted is annual Children's Environmental Health Symposium, this time focusing on the impacts of climate change on children's health.
A Story of Health was developed by ATSDR, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE), the University of California, San Francisco, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (UCSF PEHSU…
In 2013 speakers from Children’s Environmental Health Research Centers, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units on the West Coast and OEHHA gathered to discuss children’s exposure to chemicals…