upcoming conference on environmental health

The Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, in collaboration with its lead community partner, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, is hosting a day-long conference (March 30, 2009) that will focus on three major environmental health concerns affecting children: air pollution, pesticides, and endocrine disruptors in consumer products. The purpose of the conference is to share research findings from the Center and other investigators over the past ten years in these specific areas, discuss interventions stemming from this research that have been implemented in New York City, and identify strategies to advance policies that will reduce and prevent environmentally-related diseases such as asthma, developmental disorders, and cancer in children living in urban communities.

Children in Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx are disproportionately exposed to environmental pollutants. While there have been some successes in reducing exposures, children living in underserved communities continue to bear the unequal burden of poor health outcomes such as high rates of asthma, growth and developmental delays, and other poor health conditions.

The morning session of the conference will present three case studies on air pollution, pesticides, and endocrine disruptors, as well as interventions undertaken to address these issues. In the afternoon, two roundtables discussions will focus on how such scientific findings can be more effectively translated into policies to protect children's health.

For more information and to register for the conference, please visit www.ccceh.org/conference09.html.