Healthy learning places for children: There is no one incharge

While there is no current information on the status of school building or sites; but we generally know that there are many old buildings and much deferred maintenance. Some the school environmental health issues include: Indoor air quality, Lighting, Pests and pesticides, Noise, Radon, Asbestos, Lead, PCBs, Drinking water contamination, Cleaning processes and products, and Siting problems. While there are a number of federal agencies that one might expect to be able to protect children's health from environmental hazards, none have a mandate to do so. There have been good voluntary programs from the EPA; but they are voluntary. When problems actually develop in schools there is no agency authorized to evaluate those problem with the health of children in mind. Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units do have the background to do some of these evaluations; but may not have the technical capacity or the staffing to do these evaluations on the scale and volume necessary. This session will provide the background information on this topic and engage participants in an exploration of how to deal with and work to prevent environmental health issues in schools.