Children's Environmental Health Center

Four images of diverse children

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

Other OEHHA efforts relating to children's health include:

Children's Health News

06/29/2023: 2023 Symposium on Heat: Impacts on Children and Pregnancy
Please join OEHHA and the Children’s Environmental Health Center for a virtual symposium series exploring the effects of heat on children and during pregnancy. This highly interactive four-session symposium will cover physiologic considerations for children and pregnancy, strategies to combat health effects in children and during pregnancy, and important considerations for these populations in the development of heat health warning systems.
12/20/2018: 2018 Children’s Environmental Health Symposium Presentations
2018 Children's Environmental Health Symposium Presentations exploring "Air Pollution and Lifecourse Neurological Impacts.” The symposium will be held October 2, 2018 and will examine the potential factors underlying children's unique vulnerabilities to the cumulative impacts of pollution and socioeconomic and community stressors.
08/13/2018: 2018 Children's Environmental Health Symposium
2018 Children's Environmental Health Symposium exploring "Air Pollution and Lifecourse Neurological Impacts.” The symposium will be held October 2, 2018 and will examine the potential factors underlying children's unique vulnerabilities to the cumulative impacts of pollution and socioeconomic and community stressors.
04/03/2017: 2017 Children’s Environmental Health Symposium
2017 Children's Environmental Health Symposium exploring "Environmental Justice and Children”. The symposium will be held April 26, 2017 and will examine the potential factors underlying children's unique vulnerabilities to the cumulative impacts of pollution and socioeconomic and community stressors.

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