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Episode 1: Lead Exposure in Children with Marissa Hauptman MD, MPH, FAAP & Nick Newman, DO, MS, FAAP:

Marissa Hauptman, MD, MPH, FAAP is the Co-Director of Region 1 New England Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU); Co-Director of the Pediatric Environmental Health Center; a Pediatrician for Children's Hospital Primary Care Center (CHPCC) and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. 

Nick Newman, DO, MS, FAAP is the Medical Director of the Pediatric Environmental Health and Lead Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Environmental & Public Health Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. He is the Satellite Director for the PEHSU Network, based out of Region 5.

Also available on Spotify. 

Resources on Lead Exposure:

• PEHSU Region 5 Website; phone number: 513-803-3688; Resources for Lead Exposures   
• PEHSU Region 1 Website; LeadRx Massachusetts Edition; What is Lead Poisoning? 

Find Your PEHSU Expert

.... REFLECTED ON THE IMPACT OF HOME ASTHMA ENVIRONMENTAL INTERVENTIONS:

Over the past 3 years, the Region 5 PEHSU satellite at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has been working with multiple hospital divisions to connect families with home asthma environmental interventions. During this past year, this effort has started to bear fruit. The hospital community health workers have received training from the PEHSU on environmental asthma triggers and evidence-based home interventions. Leveraging funding from the Ohio Department of Health, a community health worker has started making home visits to families with children who have had a recent asthma exacerbation. These families were provided with materials for the home including dust covers, safer cleaning supplies, and in some cases air filters, in addition to helping them get connected with community services. So far, over 20 families have been enrolled this past year. Programs like these can take years to develop and require buy-in from hospitals, payers, and most importantly, families. Having a PEHSU expert available to advocate for and to help educate personnel to carry out these home visits is an asset for the children in Cincinnati.” -Dr. Nick Newman

…INCREASED LEAD TESTING IN VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES:

Over the past year, Region 10 PEHSU co-directors Catherine Karr MD, PhD, MS, and MaryKate Cardon DNP, CPNP-PC have been leading a QI lead screening initiative amongst five University of Washington pediatric primary care clinics. This work, titled Better Access to Blood Lead Evaluation for Kids (B-ABLE Kids), has been funded by the Public Health – Seattle King County Best Starts for Kids program. The goal of the QI initiative is to increase provider awareness and understanding about childhood lead poisoning and prevention in Washington state, and to identify and overcome barriers to improve screening and testing rates. Historically, Washington state has had some of the lowest lead testing rates in the nation. So far, we have seen modest increases across all clinics in lead tests ordered, with particular improvement in tests ordered for children on Medicaid insurance at 12 and 24 months of age, and we hope to continue seeing increases as we collect data over the next 6 months. In December we will be hosting the final of four quarterly learning sessions, all of which participating providers and staff were able to claim MOC/CME/CNE credit for. This has been the first year of a 3-year project, and the next 2 years will involve ongoing data collection of lead testing rates in these clinics, as well as hosting in-person lead testing events in collaboration with two community-based organizations – the Somali Health Board and Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.

... SHARED RESOURCES IN PEDIATRIC ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS:

Region 9 (Western States) PEHSU integrated their Prescriptions for Prevention into UCSF's Electronic Medical System (EMS) and formatted them for Epic. There are 30 prescriptions (Rx’s) on exposures and hazards, and 7 brand new Concept Rx’s! These Rx's are based on the Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit revision that had major contributions from all 10 PEHSUs. Do you have a point person for your local EMS you can share so that these Rx’s are circulated more widely? Contact James Earl Schier Nolan, MPH at james.nolan@ucsf.edu.

Region 9 (Western States) PEHSU also saw tens of thousands of registrants sign up for their Story of Health series. The series had major contributions from all PEHSUs, and is certified for continuing medical and nursing education, among other disciplines. Region 9 would love to have more health care providers view this content and would like the series listed on additional CME directories. If you have other recommendations for dissemination or could share the series with your networks, contact James Earl Schier Nolan, MPH at james.nolan@ucsf.edu.

COLLABORATED WITH SCHOLARS TO CREATE EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH HAZARDS:

Region 10 PEHSU worked with 3 NIH K12 Pediatric and Reproductive Environmental Health Scholars (PREHS), and has a new scholar who recently joined the program, Ayana DeGaia, MD, MPH. Dr. DeGaia will be the first OB-GYN to join the other scholars, and they are very excited for the expertise that she will bring to the program. The other scholars in the program have also worked diligently on their translation projects in collaboration with PEHSU. Mary Crocker, MD, MPH is a pediatric pulmonologist who has been developing educational materials about wildfire smoke exposure. Jonika Hash, PhD, RN is a nursing professor who has developed a factsheet on ultrafine particles in collaboration with a community organization living nearby an airport. And Elizabeth Reznikov, DO, PhD is a pediatric gastroenterologist developing education for clinicians about the adverse health effects of added sugars and artificial sweeteners. They look forward to utilizing all of the valuable materials they develop as part of our PEHSU outreach and education.

... LED THE CONVERSATION ON CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH IN VARIOUS EVENTS*:

• New England Region 1 (New England) PEHSU’s Co-Director, Alan Woolf, MD, MPH, FAAP, FACMT, FAACT was a panelist in a webinar organized by the EPA on Lead Exposures in Children's Environmental Health.
• Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment (MACCHE)) PEHSU’s Co-Director Ruth McDermott-Levy, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN was a panelist in a webinar organized by American Public Health Association and hosted by The Medical Society Consortium entitled From Concern to Action: Health Professionals Leading the Charge for Extreme Heat
• Region 4 Southeast PEHSU’s Abby Mutic, PhD, MSN, CNM was a panelist in the webinar: Heat Exposure and Health: Addressing Challenges for Children and Farmworkers.
• Region 5 (The Great Lakes Center for Reproductive and Children's Environmental Health (GLRCEH)) PEHSU hosted its annual Reproductive Conference on October 24th, 2024. View the recording of the Chemicals, Pollution, and Pregnancy Conference

*This list is just a snapshot and does not include all the events that took place this fall.

…AND ADVISED ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES:

Abby Mutic, PhD, CNM, from Region 4 (Southeast) PEHSU was interviewed by Fox5 News in response to the BioLab explosion in Rockland County, Georgia.

Marissa Hauptman, MD, MPH, FAAP, from Region 1 (New England) PEHSU was interviewed by NBC Boston on anxiety in kids after back-to-back hurricanes.

WE CREATED NEW VISUAL RESOURCES:

• Region 1 (New England) PEHSU created this coloring book:
  • Magic in the Wild. Kim Manning, MA, CHES, and EJCC Scholar Rachelle Shao made this book to encourage children to think about how they are connected to nature and the environment.
• The PEHSU National Program Office created two videos:
  • Children’s Environmental Health Day-- what it means to PEHSU.
  • Childhood Cancer & the Environment-- how the two are connected.

WE HOSTED AND/OR PARTICIPATED IN 5 EVENTS:

• Region 1 (New England) PEHSU celebrated Children’s Environmental Health Day with an outreach event in the main lobby of Boston Children’s Hospital. The PEHSU was joined by members of the MA/RI Poison Center and Boston Children’s Injury Prevention. The PEHSU team distributed over 150 packs filled with the “Magic in the Wild” environmental health activity book, the “Happy Healthy Lead-Free Me” board book, crayons, stickers, brochures, and wildflower seeds. Interested families and health providers had their questions answered about environmental exposures during their visit.
• Region 2 PEHSU along with their NYSCHECK partner network, hosted Dr. Nathan Graber from the New York State Dept. of Health, who gave a presentation on “Pediatric Policy: Persistence, Perseverance, Perseveration, Patience, and Perspiration. Enabling a better world for kids.” Faculty, students, and staff attended the inspiring presentation with over 170 tuning in!
• Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment (MACCHE)) PEHSU hosted the webinar “Safe Spaces: Protecting Student Health on Children's Environmental Health Day and Every Day.” This webinar provided an overview of the unique vulnerabilities of children to environmental health hazards. It described the environmental health risks for students and staff in the school environment focusing on both legacy and emerging threats. They also discussed practical prevention strategies and health promotion interventions that can be implemented to reduce environmental health risks in schools.
• Region 4 (Southeast) PEHSU…
  • …Hosted their first CEH Day event. Partners from the Emory CHARTER Center, Sun Market, and Ogbanbire gathered to engage children and families in activities and education. Stations included virtual reality experiences, a live Roblox CEH house, veggie and soil growing, a live book reading of “Something happened to our planet”, and of course, popsicles!
  • Director Abby Mutic PhD, MSN, CNM was a panelist in The Emory CHART Center’s Webinar titled Heat Exposure and Health: Addressing Challenges for Children and Farmworkers.
  • Leslie Rubin presented the "Break the Cycle" program to a select group of professionals from the EPA, CDC, and other government agencies. The hybrid meeting, hosted in Washington D.C. and over Zoom, highlighted key initiatives aimed at addressing environmental health challenges facing children today.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) named Public Health Institute (PHI) as lead of the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU) National Program Office, with advisory support from the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides additional funding to support the PEHSU National Program Office. Over a period of three years (September 2024 to August 2027) PHI and AOEC will support a network of ten regional PEHSUs across the nation, whose vision is to create healthy environments for all children. Read more here.

PEHSU Celebrates Children's Environmental Health Day-- video