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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
5155.0: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - 2:50 PM

Abstract #116053

On the Front Lines of Children’s Environmental Health - the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units Program (PEHSU)

Larry K. Lowry, PhD, Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health, University of Texas Health Center at Tyler, 11937 U.S. Highway 271, University of Texas Health Ctr at Tyler, Tyler, TX 75708-3154, 903-877-5717, larry.lowry@uthct.edu and Katherine Kirkland, MPH, Association of Occupational & Environmental Clinics, 1010 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 513, Washington, DC 20005.

The PEHSU program was developed by the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics with Funding from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide education, consultation, and outreach on environmental health concerns. The thirteen PEHSU sites confront a wide range of children's environmental health issues from health professionals and the general public. With only one PEHSU site per ATSDR/EPA region, there is an additional challenge to meeting the needs of a large, geographically diverse region as well. Region 6 encompasses NM, TX, LA, OK, and AR. This presentation provides a snapshot of issues addressed by the Region 6 PEHSU from January 1 to February 28, 2005. These include consultations with public health officials on rashes in a school and with a parent on asbestos in her home. Presentations were given to physicians on mercury issues, to nurses on health disparities and on indoor and outdoor air issues, and to respiratory therapists on asthma triggers. Planning meetings were held on border health issues with Mexico and on mercury issues with the Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality. Interventions were conducted in a pediatric clinic regarding Environmental Tobacco Smoke. The center answers calls from pediatricians, nurses, family medicine physicians, federal agencies, state officials, parents, school officials, and teachers from all five states in the region. This presentation will explain how all these activities are accomplished, how the program enhances children's environmental health and how the program model can be adapted for other countries.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Children's Health, Environmental Health

Related Web page: www.swepeh.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

[ Recorded presentation ] Recorded presentation

Children: The First To Bear The Brunt Of Environmental Contamination

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA