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North Carolina Children’s Environmental Health

kristiet_a0o04rjz on March 9, 2022

North Carolina Children’s Environmental Health Profile

Did you know 13.9% of children under 18 in North Carolina have ADHD or ADD (compared to the National average of 8.9%) in 2019-2020? Or that 43% of children under age 18 live in counties that do not monitor ozone pollution? There are 2.3 million children in North Carolina, and approximately 20% of them live in poverty. Poverty is an important social determinant of health; poverty hurts children and their families. Children of color and young children are disproportionately poor and experience many issues that lead to adverse health outcomes. All children deserve a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop.

This profile highlights key North Carolina children’s environmental health indicators, federal support received by the state for environmental health, health equity and climate and health programs, and a spotlight feature in a children’s environmental health-related topical issues.

Continue reading to learn more about environmental hazards, children’s exposures, and children’s health outcomes in North Carolina, or click the blue button to download the profile as a PDF.

Key Children’s Environmental Health Indicators for North Carolina

What is a Children’s Environmental Health Indicator?

See Indicator References

Safe Drinking Water: 22% of public water utilities had drinking water violations (2020)
National average: 31%
Air Quality: 43% of children under age 18 live in the 68 (out of 100 total) counties that do not monitor ozone pollution (2021)
Warming Temperatures: 2.5 degrees F warmer in 2020 than in 1970.
National average 2.8 degrees F warmer
Toxic Chemical Releases: 55 million pounds of toxic chemicals were disposed of or released (2020).
United States 3.1 billion pounds
Asthma: 7.1% of children under age 18 have asthma (2018- 2019)
Nationwide: 7.7%
Pediatric Cancer: 172.8 cases of pediatric cancer per 1 million population (2005-2015)
Nationwide: 181.0 cases per 1 million
Blood lead levels: 1.2% of tested children under age 6 have elevated blood lead levels (2018).
Nationwide: 2.6%
Neurodevelopmental Disorders:13.9% of children age 3-17 have ADD or ADHD (2019-2020).
Nationwide: 8.9%.

3.2% of children age 3-17  have Autism Spectrum Disorder (2019- 2020)
Nationwide: 2.9%

North Carolina Spotlight: 

Research shows that children today will face around three times as many climate disasters as their grandparents did, including wildfires, storms, floods and droughts. Aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed to protect children and future generations from the health effects of these impacts. A 2018 North Carolina executive order established climate and clean energy goals to achieve by 2025, including reducing statewide greenhouse has emissions to 40% below 2005 levels. According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Report, NC ranks 3rd in the nation for total solar power as  of the end of the first quarter of 2021.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)has listed impacts to children among the top priorities to be addressed in its statewide climate resilience strategy. The state has an Early Childhood Action Plan which outlies a cohesive vision, sets benchmarks for impact by the year 2025, and establishes shared stakeholder accountability to achieve statewide goals for young children from birth through age 8. As of March 2021, the NC DHHS has been working on an addendum to the Early Childhood Action Plan that would focus on assessing and addressing the impacts of climate change on young children through the lens of health equity.

Federal Support to North Carolina within the past 5 years

CDC-funded Climate-Ready States & Cities Initiative
CDC-Funded Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
ATSDR State Cooperative Agreement Program
CDC National Asthma Control Program
CDC-funded Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
CDC State Biomonitoring Cooperative Agreement Program

Children’s Environmental Health Indicators Selection Criteria
Children’s environmental health indicators (CEHIs) are measures that can be used to assess environmental hazards, exposures, and their resulting health outcomes in children. The below criteria are used when determining which indicators to utilize:

    • Relevance: Each headline indicator should be a clear, understandable indicator of children’s environmental health, with broad relevance for a range of audiences at the state level – with relevance to the national level.
    • Representativeness: The indicators as a package should provide a representative picture of children’s health and relation to the environment.
    • Traceability: Each indicator should be calculated using an agreed-upon (and published) method and accessible and verifiable data.
    • Timeliness: Each indicator should be calculated regularly (at least biennially), with a short lag between the end of the period and publication of the data.
    • Data adequacy: The available data needed for the indicator must be sufficiently robust, reliable and valid.
    • Universality: Indicators must be comparable across all or very nearly all 50 U.S. states. [/expand]

Indicator Notes and References

Safe Drinking Water

Air Quality

[/toggle]
[toggle title=”Warming Temperature”]

Toxic Chemicals

  • Indicator Note: EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Certain industrial facilities in the U.S. must report annually how much of each chemical is disposed of or released on and off site. Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and neurotoxicants, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, that adversely impact children’s health.
  • Reference: Summary of 779 Toxic Release Inventory Facilities in North Carolina. Reporting Year 2020.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Asthma

Pediatric Cancer

Blood Lead Levels

  • Indicator Note: Often the most vulnerable children are not tested, and not all who are tested get reported, so 1.2% is likely an underestimate of the true scope of children’s elevated blood lead in North Carolina. There is no safe level of lead exposure for children. A potent neurotoxicant, lead reduces IQ and impairs other cognitive, behavioral and developmental functions. In 2021, the CDC lowered the BLL reference value from 5 to 3.5 µg/dL.
  • Reference: National Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance Data. 2018. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..

Poverty

Federal Support to North Carolina

North Carolina Spotlight

All children deserve and need a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop. They need clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, nutritious food to eat, and healthy places in which to live, learn, and play. Early exposure to harmful agents can lead to acute and chronic adverse outcomes. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to environmental exposures because they breathe, eat and drink more, in proportion to their body size, than do adults, and because their bodies and brains are still developing.

A blueprint for Protecting Children’s Environmental Health Network set out to identify a set of CEHIs that can be used to provide an understanding of children’s environmental health at the state level. Through this process, CEHN found that robust, valid, and regularly updated state level data–that are comparable across most states–were not readily accessible. States need adequate funding and capacity to collect and make accessible reliable CEHI data in order to set goals and track progress towards improving children’s health.

Children are our future – society has a moral obligation to protect them. Exposure to environmental hazards can and must be prevented. Prevention requires strong environmental regulations, fully funded and supportive public and environmental health programs and a robust workforce.

Minnesota Children’s Environmental Health

kristiet_a0o04rjz on March 9, 2022

Minnesota  Children’s Environmental Health Profile

Did you know 48% of Minnesota’s children live in counties that do not monitor ozone pollution levels?  Or that while the national average temperature increase since 1970 is 2.8 degrees F, Minnesota’s temperature increase is 3.3 degrees F? There are 1.3 million children in Minnesota, and approximately 11% of them live in poverty. Poverty is an important social determinant of health; poverty hurts children and their families. Children of color and young children are disproportionately poor and experience many issues that lead to adverse health outcomes. All children deserve a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop.

This profile highlights key Minnesota children’s environmental health indicators, federal support received by the state for environmental health, health equity, and climate and health programs, and a spotlight feature on a children’s environmental health-related topical issue.

Continue reading to learn more about environmental hazards, children’s exposures, and children’s health outcomes in Minnesota, or click the blue button to download the profile as a PDF.

Key Children’s Environmental Health Indicators for Minnesota

What is a Children’s Environmental Health Indicator?

See Indicator References

Safe Drinking Water: 3% of public water utilities had drinking water violations (2020).
National average: 31%
Air Quality: 48% of children under age 18 live in the 72 (out of 87 total) counties that do not monitor ozone pollution (2021).
Warming Temperatures: 3.3 degrees F warmer in 2020 than in 1970.
National average 2.8 degrees F warmer
Toxic Chemical Releases: 20.4 million pounds of toxic chemicals were disposed of or released (2020).
United States 3.1 billion pounds
Asthma: 7% of children under age 18 have asthma (2018- 2019)
Nationwide: 7.7%
Pediatric Cancer: 185.7 cases of pediatric cancer per 1 million population (2005-2015)
Nationwide: 181.0 cases per 1 million
Blood lead levels: 1.4% of tested children under age 6 have elevated blood lead levels (2018)
Nationwide: 2.6%
Neurodevelopmental Disorders:6.8% of children age 3-17 have ADD or ADHD (2019-2020).
Nationwide: 8.9%.

2.7% of children age 3-17  have Autism Spectrum Disorder (2019- 2020)
Nationwide: 2.9%

Minnesota Spotlight: Minnesota Department of Health Drinking Water Guidance

Minnesota is one of only a few states that develops its own drinking water guidance in addition to existing EPA standards. State law specifies that the guidance must adequately protect the health of infants and children. To this end, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has developed drinking water guidance that considers developmental “windows of sensitivity” to toxicants as well as periods of high exposure.

The state is particularly aggressive in its monitoring of per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of persistent chemicals that pose significant health risks. MDH toxicologists uniquely consider placental transfer and transfer through formula-feeding and breastmilk in their risk assessment of PFAS in water sources.

MDH has a long-term goal of sampling all community water systems in the state for PFAS. Under this goal, MDH aims to cover 90% of CWS customers under its PFAS monitoring program by 2025. They will also sample noncommunity water systems in areas that are most vulnerable to PFAS contamination to address the highest potential public health risks.

Federal Support to Minnesota within the past 5 years

CDC-Funded Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
ATSDR State Cooperative Agreement Program
CDC National Asthma Control Program
CDC-funded Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
CDC State Biomonitoring Cooperative Agreement Program

Children’s Environmental Health Indicators Selection Criteria
Children’s environmental health indicators (CEHIs) are measures that can be used to assess environmental hazards, exposures, and their resulting health outcomes in children.  The below criteria are used when determining which indicators to utilize:

    • Relevance: Each headline indicator should be a clear, understandable indicator of children’s environmental health, with broad relevance for a range of audiences at the state level – with relevance to the national level.
    • Representativeness: The indicators as a package should provide a representative picture of children’s health and relation to the environment.
    • Traceability: Each indicator should be calculated using an agreed-upon (and published) method and accessible and verifiable data.
    • Timeliness: Each indicator should be calculated regularly (at least biennially), with a short lag between the end of the period and publication of the data.
    • Data adequacy: The available data needed for the indicator must be sufficiently robust, reliable and valid.
    • Universality: Indicators must be comparable across all or very nearly all 50 U.S. states. [/expand]

Indicator Notes and References

Safe Drinking Water

Air Quality

Warming Temperature

  • Indicator Note: EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Certain industrial facilities in the U.S. must report annually how much of each chemical is disposed of or released on and off site. Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and neurotoxicants, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, that adversely impact children’s health.
  • Reference: Summary of 509 Toxic Release Inventory Facilities in Minnesota. Reporting Year 2020.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Asthma

Pediatric Cancer

Blood Lead Levels

  • Indicator Note: In 2017, 21.9% of Minnesota children under age 6 were tested for blood lead levels (BLLs). Of those tested, 0.6% had a BLL>= 5 µg/dL. Often the most vulnerable children are not tested, and not all who are tested get reported, so 0.6% is likely an underestimate of the true scope of children’s elevated blood lead in Minnesota. There is no safe level of lead exposure for children. A potent neurotoxicant, lead reduces IQ and impairs other cognitive, behavioral and developmental functions. In 2021, the CDC lowered the BLL reference value from 5 to 3.5 µg/dL.
  • Reference: National Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance Data. Minnesota (2018). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Poverty

Federal Support to Minnesota

Minnesota Spotlight

All children deserve and need a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop. They need clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, nutritious food to eat, and healthy places in which to live, learn, and play. Early exposure to harmful agents can lead to acute and chronic adverse outcomes. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to environmental exposures because they breathe, eat and drink more, in proportion to their body size, than do adults, and because their bodies and brains are still developing.

A blueprint for Protecting Children’s Environmental Health Network set out to identify a set of CEHIs that can be used to provide an understanding of children’s environmental health at the state level. Through this process, CEHN found that robust, valid, and regularly updated state level data–that are comparable across most states–were not readily accessible. States need adequate funding and capacity to collect and make accessible reliable CEHI data in order to set goals and track progress towards improving children’s health.

Children are our future – society has a moral obligation to protect them. Exposure to environmental hazards can and must be prevented. Prevention requires strong environmental regulations, fully funded and supportive public and environmental health programs and a robust workforce.

Michigan Children’s Environmental Health

kristiet_a0o04rjz on March 9, 2022

Michigan Children’s Environmental Health Profile

Did you know 50% of children under 18 in Michigan live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone pollution? Or that 9.1% of children under age 18 had asthma (compared to the National average of 7.7%) in 2018-2019? There are 2.1 million children in Michigan, and approximately 18% of them live in poverty. Poverty is an important social determinant of health; poverty hurts children and their families. Children of color and young children are disproportionately poor and experience many issues that lead to adverse health outcomes. All children deserve a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop.

This profile highlights key Michigan children’s environmental health indicators, federal support received by the state for environmental health, health equity and climate and health programs, and a spotlight feature in a children’s environmental health-related topical issues.

Continue reading to learn more about environmental hazards, children’s exposures, and children’s health outcomes in Michigan, or click the blue button to download the profile as a PDF.

Key Children’s Environmental Health Indicators for Michigan

What is a Children’s Environmental Health Indicator?

See Indicator References

Safe Drinking Water: 24% of public water utilities had drinking water violations (2020)
National average: 31%
Air Quality: 50% of children under age 18 live in counties with unhealthy ozone pollution (2021)
Warming Temperatures: 2.9 degrees F warmer in 2020 than in 1970.
National average 2.8 degrees F warmer
Toxic Chemical Releases: 61.9 million pounds of toxic chemicals were disposed of or released (2020).
United States 3.1 billion pounds
Asthma: 9.1% of children under age 18 have asthma (2018- 2019)
Nationwide: 7.7%
Pediatric Cancer: 184.8 cases of pediatric cancer per 1 million population (2005-2015)
Nationwide: 181.0 cases per 1 million
Blood lead levels: 4% of tested children under age 6 have elevated blood lead levels (2016).
Nationwide: 3.8%
Neurodevelopmental Disorders:9.7% of children age 3-17 have ADD or ADHD (2019-2020).
Nationwide: 8.9%.

2.6% of children age 3-17  have Autism Spectrum Disorder (2019- 2020)
Nationwide: 2.9%

Michigan Spotlight: Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART)

Contamination of drinking water by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFA) has been a high-visibility issue in Michigan and across the country over the past few years. PFAS are a group of highly toxic persistent chemicals and a significant public health concern. Although the EPA anticipates issuing PFAS regulation in Fall 2023, there are currently no federal regulations in place for PFAS in drinking water. A 2021 report found that Michigan has among the most PFAS-contaminated water sites in the country. However, the high number of confirmed sites is at least partly attributed to MI’s aggressive search for PFAS contamination.

Since 2017, the state has acted to protect its drinking water via the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), a multi-agency collaboration. MPART actions that have successfully reduced statewide exposure include the provisioning of alternative water sources and the regulation of PFAS discharges into drinking water supplies, While the state drinking water standards only apply to public water supplies, MPART actions that have successfully reduced statewide exposure include the provisioning of alternative water sources and the regulation of PFAS discharges into drinking water supplies. While the state drinking water standards only apply to public water supplies, MPART investigators also assist private well owners by testing wells in areas with known PFAS contamination, providing educational information about PFAS, and helping those with tainted well water to consider solutions. Michigan is one of only 16 states to set enforceable standards for certain PFAS substances in drinking water. These standards are stricter than the EPA’s for current unenforceable health advisory levels.

Federal Support to Michigan within the past 5 years

CDC-funded Climate-Ready States & Cities Initiative
CDC-Funded Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
ATSDR State Cooperative Agreement Program
CDC National Asthma Control Program
CDC-funded Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
CDC State Biomonitoring Cooperative Agreement Program

Children’s Environmental Health Indicators Selection Criteria (click to expand):”]
Children’s environmental health indicators (CEHIs) are measures that can be used to assess environmental hazards, exposures, and their resulting health outcomes in children.  The below criteria are used when determining which indicators to utilize:

    • Relevance: Each headline indicator should be a clear, understandable indicator of children’s environmental health, with broad relevance for a range of audiences at the state level – with relevance to the national level.
    • Representativeness: The indicators as a package should provide a representative picture of children’s health and relation to the environment.
    • Traceability: Each indicator should be calculated using an agreed-upon (and published) method and accessible and verifiable data.
    • Timeliness: Each indicator should be calculated regularly (at least biennially), with a short lag between the end of the period and publication of the data.
    • Data adequacy: The available data needed for the indicator must be sufficiently robust, reliable and valid.
    • Universality: Indicators must be comparable across all or very nearly all 50 U.S. states. [/expand]

Indicator Notes and References

Safe Drinking Water

Air Quality

Warming Temperature

Toxic Chemicals

  • Indicator Note: EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Certain industrial facilities in the U.S. must report annually how much of each chemical is disposed of or released on and off site. Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and neurotoxicants, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, that adversely impact children’s health.
  • Reference: Summary of 759 Toxic Release Inventory Facilities in Michigan. Reporting Year 2020.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Asthma

Pediatric Cancer

Blood Lead Levels

Poverty

Federal Support to Michigan

Michigan Spotlight

All children deserve and need a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop. They need clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, nutritious food to eat, and healthy places in which to live, learn, and play. Early exposure to harmful agents can lead to acute and chronic adverse outcomes. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to environmental exposures because they breathe, eat and drink more, in proportion to their body size, than do adults, and because their bodies and brains are still developing.

A blueprint for Protecting Children’s Environmental Health Network set out to identify a set of CEHIs that can be used to provide an understanding of children’s environmental health at the state level. Through this process, CEHN found that robust, valid, and regularly updated state level data–that are comparable across most states–were not readily accessible. States need adequate funding and capacity to collect and make accessible reliable CEHI data in order to set goals and track progress towards improving children’s health.

Children are our future – society has a moral obligation to protect them. Exposure to environmental hazards can and must be prevented. Prevention requires strong environmental regulations, fully funded and supportive public and environmental health programs and a robust workforce.

Colorado Children’s Environmental Health

kristiet_a0o04rjz on March 9, 2022

Colorado Children’s Environmental Health Profile

Did you know 71% of children under 18 in Colorado live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone pollution? Or that 9.1% of children under age 18 had asthma (compared to the National average of 7.7%) in 2018-2019? There are 1.3 million children in Colorado, and approximately 12% of them live in poverty. Poverty is an important social determinant of health; poverty hurts children and their families. Children of color and young children are disproportionately poor and experience many issues that lead to adverse health outcomes. All children deserve a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop.

This report details key Colorado children’s environmental health indicators, federal support received by the state, and the work the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) are doing to protect children’s health.

Continue reading to learn more about how children living in Colorado are experiencing adverse health outcomes due to environmental exposures in their air, water, and food, or click the blue button to download the factsheet.

Key Children’s Environmental Health Indicators for Colorado

What is a Children’s Environmental Health Indicator?

See Indicator References

Safe Drinking Water: 40% of public water utilities had drinking water violations (2019).
National average: 32%
Air Quality: 71% of children under age 18 live in counties with unhealthy ozone pollution (2020)
Warming Temperatures: 2.9 degrees F warmer in 2018 than in 1970.
National average 2.5 degrees F warmer
Toxic Chemical Releases: 24.5 million pounds of toxic chemicals were disposed of or released (2018).
United States 3.8 billion pounds
Asthma: 6.5% of children under age 18 have asthma (2017)
Nationwide: 7.6%
Pediatric Cancer: 174 cases of pediatric cancer per 1 million population (2005-2015) Nationwide: 181.0 cases per 1 million
Blood lead levels: 1.0% of tested children under age 6 have elevated blood lead levels (2016)
Nationwide: 3.0%
Neurodevelopmental Disorders:8.8% of children age 3-17 have ADD or ADHD (2017-2018).
Nationwide: 8.7%.

2.9% of children age 3-17  have Autism Spectrum Disorder (2017)
Nationwide: 2.9%

Colorado Spotlight: 

Exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health, including damage to the brain and nervous system, reduced IQ, and learning disabilities. A common source of lead in drinking water are lead service lines (LSLs) which bring municipal water into homes. Full LSL, replacement is imperative to reduce the risk of lead exposure to millions of families, especially those in under-resourced communities and communities of color

In 2020 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule -the rule that is responsible for drinking water infrastructure and contaminants. There are several problems with the proposed revisions, including a lowered rate for required LSL replacements, With the proposed new rate, it could take more than 33 years for all LSLs in a poorly performing water system to be replaced.

However, cities and states are stepping up to protect their residents’ health. Denver Water’s Lead Reduction Program is undertaking aggressive action to fully replace all of the estimated 64,000-84,000 LSLs in its service area within 15 years. Vulnerable neighborhoods and properties that service large numbers of at-risk individuals, such as child care facilities will be prioritized in the replacement effort.

Federal Support to Colorado within the past 5 years

CDC-Funded Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
ATSDR State Cooperative Agreement Program
CDC National Asthma Control Program
CDC-funded Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
CDC State Biomonitoring Cooperative Agreement Program

Children’s Environmental Health Indicators Selection Criteria 
Children’s environmental health indicators (CEHIs) are measures that can be used to assess environmental hazards, exposures, and their resulting health outcomes in children. The below criteria are used when determining which indicators to utilize:

    • Relevance: Each headline indicator should be a clear, understandable indicator of children’s environmental health, with broad relevance for a range of audiences at the state level – with relevance to the national level.
    • Representativeness: The indicators as a package should provide a representative picture of children’s health and relation to the environment.
    • Traceability: Each indicator should be calculated using an agreed-upon (and published) method and accessible and verifiable data.
    • Timeliness: Each indicator should be calculated regularly (at least biennially), with a short lag between the end of the period and publication of the data.
    • Data adequacy: The available data needed for the indicator must be sufficiently robust, reliable and valid.
    • Universality: Indicators must be comparable across all or very nearly all 50 U.S. states. [/expand]

Indicator Notes and References

Safe Drinking Water

Air Quality

Warming Temperature

Toxic Chemicals

  • Indicator Note: EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Certain industrial facilities in the U.S. must report annually how much of each chemical is disposed of or released on and off site. Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and neurotoxicants, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, that adversely impact children’s health.
  • Reference: Summary of 241 Toxic Release Inventory Facilities in Colorado. Reporting Year 2018. Accessed on April 28, 2020.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Asthma

Pediatric Cancer

Indicator Note: Although cancer in children is rare, the rate of pediatric cancer has been increasing since the 1970s. It is the leading disease related cause of death past infancy in U.S. children, Neither genetics nor improved diagnostic techniques can explain the increased rate. According to the President’s Cancer Panel’s 2008-2009 Annual Report, “the true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated”

Blood Lead Levels

  • Indicator Note: In 2016, 6.6% of Colorado children under age 6 were tested for blood lead levels (BLLs). Of those tested, 1% had a BLL>= 5 µg/dL. Often the most vulnerable children are not tested, and not all who are tested get reported, so 1% is likely an underestimate of the true scope of children’s elevated blood lead in Colorado. There is no safe level of lead exposure for children. A potent neurotoxicant, lead reduces IQ and impairs other cognitive, behavioral and developmental functions. In 2021, the CDC lowered the BLL reference value from 5 to 3.5 µg/dL.
  • Reference: National Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance Data. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed on March 25, 2020 

Poverty

Support to Colorado

Colorado Spotlight

All children deserve and need a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop. They need clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, nutritious food to eat, and healthy places in which to live, learn, and play. Early exposure to harmful agents can lead to acute and chronic adverse outcomes. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to environmental exposures because they breathe, eat and drink more, in proportion to their body size, than do adults, and because their bodies and brains are still developing.

A blueprint for Protecting Children’s Environmental Health Network set out to identify a set of CEHIs that can be used to provide an understanding of children’s environmental health at the state level. Through this process, CEHN found that robust, valid, and regularly updated state level data–that are comparable across most states–were not readily accessible. States need adequate funding and capacity to collect and make accessible reliable CEHI data in order to set goals and track progress towards improving children’s health.

Children are our future – society has a moral obligation to protect them. Exposure to environmental hazards can and must be prevented. Prevention requires strong environmental regulations, fully funded and supportive public and environmental health programs and a robust workforce.

Florida Children’s Environmental Health

kristiet_a0o04rjz on March 9, 2022

Florida Children’s Environmental Health Profile

Did you know 50% of children under 18 in Florida live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone pollution? Or that 9.1% of children under age 18 had asthma (compared to the National average of 7.7%) in 2018-2019? There are 4.3 million children in Florida, and approximately 20% of them live in poverty. Poverty is an important social determinant of health; poverty hurts children and their families. Children of color and young children are disproportionately poor and experience many issues that lead to adverse health outcomes. All children deserve a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop.

This profile highlights key Florida children’s environmental health indicators, federal support received by the state for environmental health, health equity and climate and health programs, and a spotlight feature in a children’s environmental health-related topical issues.

Continue reading to learn more about environmental hazards, children’s exposures, and children’s health outcomes in Florida, or click the blue button to download the profile as a PDF.

Key Children’s Environmental Health Indicators for Florida

What is a Children’s Environmental Health Indicator?

See Indicator References

Safe Drinking Water: 30% of public water utilities had drinking water violations (2019)
National average: 31%
Air Quality: 21% of children under age 18 live in counties with unhealthy ozone pollution (2020)
Warming Temperatures: 2 degrees F warmer in 2018 than in 1970.
National average 2.5 degrees F warmer
Toxic Chemical Releases: 61.4 million pounds of toxic chemicals were disposed of or released (2018).
United States 3.8 billion pounds
Asthma: 9.5% of children under age 18 have asthma (2017- 2018)
Nationwide: 7.6%
Pediatric Cancer: 189.4 cases of pediatric cancer per 1 million population (2005-2015)
Nationwide: 181.0 cases per 1 million
Blood lead levels: 1.7% of tested children under age 6 have elevated blood lead levels (2012).
Nationwide: 2.4%
Neurodevelopmental Disorders:9.8% of children age 3-17 have ADD or ADHD (2017-2018).
Nationwide: 8.9%. 

1.2% of children age 3-17  have Autism Spectrum Disorder (2017- 2018)
Nationwide: 2.9%

Florida Spotlight

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to public health and to the safety of future generations. State and local governments are increasingly leading the way and taking urgent climate action into their own hands. Florida shoulders significant risks from climate change–form sea level rise and loss of critical coastline, to an increase in extreme heat days and more severe weather events. One example of Florida-driven innovation is the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, developed in 2010 by Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach Counties. Through this compact, the counties have been working cooperatively across county lines to develop annual legislative programs and create a Southeast Florida Regional Climate Action Plan.

The plan provides a set of recommendations, guidelines for implementation, and shared best practices for local entities to act in-line with the regional agenda. In addition to providing recommendations in areas including agriculture, transportation, water, and energy and fuel, the plan explicitly addresses public health, public outreach and engagement, and social equity. Local entities can opt to create personalized plans based on their priority focus areas.

Federal Support to Florida within the past 5 years

CDC-Funded Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
ATSDR State Cooperative Agreement Program
CDC National Asthma Control Program
CDC-funded Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
CDC State Biomonitoring Cooperative Agreement Program

Children’s Environmental Health Indicators Selection Criteria
Children’s environmental health indicators (CEHIs) are measures that can be used to assess environmental hazards, exposures, and their resulting health outcomes in children.  The below criteria are used when determining which indicators to utilize:

    • Relevance: Each headline indicator should be a clear, understandable indicator of children’s environmental health, with broad relevance for a range of audiences at the state level – with relevance to the national level.
    • Representativeness: The indicators as a package should provide a representative picture of children’s health and relation to the environment.
    • Traceability: Each indicator should be calculated using an agreed-upon (and published) method and accessible and verifiable data.
    • Timeliness: Each indicator should be calculated regularly (at least biennially), with a short lag between the end of the period and publication of the data.
    • Data adequacy: The available data needed for the indicator must be sufficiently robust, reliable and valid.
    • Universality: Indicators must be comparable across all or very nearly all 50 U.S. states. [/expand]

Indicator Notes and References

Safe Drinking Water

Air Quality

Warming Temperature

Toxic Chemicals

  • Indicator Note: EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Certain industrial facilities in the U.S. must report annually how much of each chemical is disposed of or released on and off site. Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and neurotoxicants, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, that adversely impact children’s health.
  • Reference: Summary of 686 Toxic Release Inventory Facilities in Florida. Reporting Year 2018. Accessed April 28, 2020.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Asthma

Pediatric Cancer

Blood Lead Levels

Poverty

Federal Support to Florida

Florida Spotlight

All children deserve and need a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop. They need clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, nutritious food to eat, and healthy places in which to live, learn, and play. Early exposure to harmful agents can lead to acute and chronic adverse outcomes. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to environmental exposures because they breathe, eat and drink more, in proportion to their body size, than do adults, and because their bodies and brains are still developing.

A blueprint for Protecting Children’s Environmental Health Network set out to identify a set of CEHIs that can be used to provide an understanding of children’s environmental health at the state level. Through this process, CEHN found that robust, valid, and regularly updated state level data–that are comparable across most states–were not readily accessible. States need adequate funding and capacity to collect and make accessible reliable CEHI data in order to set goals and track progress towards improving children’s health.

Children are our future – society has a moral obligation to protect them. Exposure to environmental hazards can and must be prevented. Prevention requires strong environmental regulations, fully funded and supportive public and environmental health programs and a robust workforce.

California Children’s Environmental Health

kristiet_a0o04rjz on March 9, 2022

California Children’s Environmental Health Profile

Did you know 89% of children under 18 in California live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone pollution? Or that 3.3% of children under age 18 had Autism Spectrum Disorder (compared to the National average of 2.9%) in 2018-2019? There are 8.9 million children in California, and approximately 16% of them live in poverty. Poverty is an important social determinant of health; poverty hurts children and their families. Children of color and young children are disproportionately poor and experience many issues that lead to adverse health outcomes. All children deserve a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop.

This profile highlights key California children’s environmental health indicators, federal support received by the states for environmental health, health equity and climate and health programs, and a spotlight feature on a children’s environmental-health related topical issue.

Continue reading to learn more about environmental hazards, children’s exposures, and children’s health outcomes in California, or click the blue button to download the profile as a PDF.

Key Children’s Environmental Health Indicators for California

What is a Children’s Environmental Health Indicator?

See Indicator References

Safe Drinking Water: 21% of public water utilities had drinking water violations.
National average: 30%
Air Quality: 89% of children under age 18 live in counties with unhealthy ozone pollution
Warming Temperatures: 2.7 degrees F warmer in 2020 than in 1970.
National average 2.8 degrees F warmer
Toxic Chemical Releases: 39.2 million pounds of toxic chemicals were disposed of or released.
United States 3.4 billion pounds
Asthma: 7.4% of children under age 18 have asthma (2018- 2019)
Nationwide: 7.7%
Pediatric Cancer: 181 cases of pediatric cancer per 1 million population (2005-2015) Nationwide: 181 cases per 1 million
Blood lead levels: 1.48% of tested children under age 6 have elevated blood lead levels (2018)
Nationwide: 2.6%
Neurodevelopmental Disorders:5.6% of children age 3-17 have ADD or ADHD (2018-2019).
Nationwide: 8.7%.

3.3% of children age 3-17  have Autism Spectrum Disorder (2018- 2019)
Nationwide: 2.9%

California Spotlight: Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Planning Tool

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) seeks to reduce and prevent adverse and inequitable physical and mental health impacts associated with climate change. With partial funding from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s Climate Ready States and Cities Initiative, the CDPH Climate Change and Health Equity Section and its CalBRACE Project developed Climate Change & Health Vulnerability Indicators for California (CCHVIs) and an online interactive platform to visualize the data, CCHVIz, These tools assist with climate change planning and prioritizing actions to protect people most at risk, including children.

The CCHVIz displays three categories of indicators that influence vulnerability to health impacts of climate change: exposure indicators including heat, air quality, wildfires, and sea level rise; population sensitivity indicators including children, elderly, poverty, education, outdoor workers, vehicle ownership, linguistic isolation, disability, health insurance, and violent crime rate; and adaptive capacity indicators including air conditioning ownership, tree canopy, and impervious surfaces.

The CCHVIz provides health officials and planners with an online snapshot to compare their county’s indicators to the state average. They can view risk by census tract for specific indicators, such as children under age 5, and their breakdown by race and ethnicity. The tool also plots the intersections of exposure indicators (e.g., ozone concentration) with sensitivity indicators (e.g., population under 5 years of age) to learn where children are susceptible to air pollution, extreme heat, wildfire, or other threats. The CCHVIz is an excellent resource for State and local officials in California to plan to prevent and prepare for climate change-related health impacts to young children, especially children of color and children in under-resourced communities.

Federal Support to California within the past 5 years

CDC-funded Climate-Ready States & Cities Initiative
CDC-funded Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
ATSDR State Cooperative Agreement Program
CDC National Asthma Control Program
CDC-funded Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
CDC State Biomonitoring Cooperative Agreement Program

Children’s Environmental Health Indicators Selection Criteria
Children’s environmental health indicators (CEHIs) are measures that can be used to assess environmental hazards, exposures, and their resulting health outcomes in children.  The below criteria are used when determining which indicators to utilize:

    • Relevance: Each headline indicator should be a clear, understandable indicator of children’s environmental health, with broad relevance for a range of audiences at the state level – with relevance to the national level.
    • Representativeness: The indicators as a package should provide a representative picture of children’s health and relation to the environment.
    • Traceability: Each indicator should be calculated using an agreed-upon (and published) method and accessible and verifiable data.
    • Timeliness: Each indicator should be calculated regularly (at least biennially), with a short lag between the end of the period and publication of the data.
    • Data adequacy: The available data needed for the indicator must be sufficiently robust, reliable and valid.
    • Universality: Indicators must be comparable across all or very nearly all 50 U.S. states. [/expand]

Indicator Notes and References

Safe Drinking Water

Air Quality

Warming Temperature

  • Indicator Note: Warming matters — it drives most of the hazards associated with climate change such as extreme weather, heat days, droughts and heavy downpours. Children are more vulnerable to harm from extreme heat and to the other cascading effects of warming temperatures.
  • Reference: AMERICAN WARMING: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance: Statewide Time Series, retrieved July 2021 from https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/.

Toxic Chemicals

  • Indicator Note: EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Certain industrial facilities in the U.S. must report annually how much of each chemical is disposed of or released on and off site. Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and neurotoxicants, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, that adversely impact children’s health.
  • Reference: Summary of 263 Toxic Release Inventory Facilities in California. Reporting Year 2019. Accessed June, 2021.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Asthma

Pediatric Cancer

Blood Lead Levels

Poverty

Federal Support to California

California Spotlight”]

All children deserve and need a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop. They need clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, nutritious food to eat, and healthy places in which to live, learn, and play. Early exposure to harmful agents can lead to acute and chronic adverse outcomes. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to environmental exposures because they breathe, eat and drink more, in proportion to their body size, than do adults, and because their bodies and brains are still developing.

A blueprint for Protecting Children’s Environmental Health Network set out to identify a set of CEHIs that can be used to provide an understanding of children’s environmental health at the state level. Through this process, CEHN found that robust, valid, and regularly updated state level data–that are comparable across most states–were not readily accessible. States need adequate funding and capacity to collect and make accessible reliable CEHI data in order to set goals and track progress towards improving children’s health.

Children are our future – society has a moral obligation to protect them. Exposure to environmental hazards can and must be prevented. Prevention requires strong environmental regulations, fully funded and supportive public and environmental health programs and a robust workforce.

Arizona Children’s Environmental Health

kristiet_a0o04rjz on March 9, 2022

Arizona Children’s Environmental Health Profile

Did you know 87% of children under 18 in Arizona live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone pollution? Or that 53% of public water utilities in the state experienced drinking water violations (compared to the National average of 32%) in 2019?  There are 1.7 million children in Arizona, and approximately 20% of them live in poverty. Poverty is an important social determinant of health; poverty hurts children and their families. Children of color and young children are disproportionately poor and experience many issues that lead to adverse health outcomes. All children deserve a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop.

This profile highlights key Arizona children’s environmental health indicators, federal support received by the state for environmental health, health equity and climate and health programs, and a spotlight feature on a children’s environmental health-related topical issue.

Continue reading to learn more about environmental hazards, children’s expoures, and children’ health outcomes in Arizona, or click the blue button to download the profile as a PDF.

Key Children’s Environmental Health Indicators for Arizona

What is a Children’s Environmental Health Indicator?

See Indicator References

​

Safe Drinking Water: 53% of public water utilities had drinking water violations.
National average: 32%
Air Quality: 87% of children under age 18 live in counties with unhealthy ozone pollution
Warming Temperatures: 3.2 degrees F warmer in 2018 than in 1970:
National average 2.5 degrees F
Toxic Chemical Releases: 170.6 million pounds of toxic chemicals were disposed of or released.
United States: 3.8 billion pounds
Asthma: 7.5% of children under age 18 have asthma (2017- 2018)
Nationwide: 7.6%
Pediatric Cancer: 176.9 cases of pediatric cancer per 1 million population (2005-2015)
Nationwide: 181.0 cases per 1 million
Blood lead levels: 0.3% of tested children under age 6 have elevated blood lead levels (2017)
Nationwide: 3%
Neurodevelopmental Disorders: 6.9% of children age 3-17 have ADD or ADHD (2017-2018).
Nationwide: 8.7%.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders: 3.1% of children age 3-17  have Autism Spectrum Disorder (2017- 2018)
Nationwide: 2.9% 

Arizona Spotlight: Navajo Community Groups Dine C.A.R.E and To Nizhoni Ani 

The Navajo Nation has faced years of environmental contamination from historical uranium mining and the placement of coal-powered incinerators on their lands. Their residents have suffered from breathing coal ash and polluted air. Uranium mining was banned in 2005 but has left a legacy of extraction contaminated water sources, including private wells.

Two Navajo community groups —Dine C.A.R.E. (Navajo Citizens Against Ruining our Environment) and To Nizhoni Ani (Sacred Water Speaks)–have been working to address these injustices for years. An overarching goal of their efforts is to make sure that the Navajo Nation transitions from an over-reliance on coal as an economic engine to more affordable and sustainable sources of energy, They are prioritizing and promoting sources that do not pollute Navajo air, land and water – and that are in line with their Dine way of life and fundamental principles. These organizations are recognized as leaders on these issues They collaborate with national environmental organizations, travel to Washington DC to advocate on behalf of the Navajo Nation and are committed to finding clean energy solutions and associated jobs on Navajo lands.

Federal Support to Arizona within the past 5 years

CDC Funded Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
CDC Funded Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
CDC State Biomonitoring Cooperative Agreement Program
  ATSDR State Cooperative Agreement Program
  CDC National Asthma Control Program

Children’s Environmental Health Indicators Selection Criteria 
Children’s environmental health indicators (CEHIs) are measures that can be used to assess environmental hazards, exposures, and their resulting health outcomes in children.  The below criteria are used when determining which indicators to utilize:

    • Relevance: Each headline indicator should be a clear, understandable indicator of children’s environmental health, with broad relevance for a range of audiences at the state level – with relevance to the national level.
    • Representativeness: The indicators as a package should provide a representative picture of children’s health and relation to the environment.
    • Traceability: Each indicator should be calculated using an agreed-upon (and published) method and accessible and verifiable data.
    • Timeliness: Each indicator should be calculated regularly (at least biennially), with a short lag between the end of the period and publication of the data.
    • Data adequacy: The available data needed for the indicator must be sufficiently robust, reliable and valid.
    • Universality: Indicators must be comparable across all or very nearly all 50 U.S. states. [/expand]

Indicator Notes and References

Safe Drinking Water

Air Quality

Warming Temperature

Toxic Chemicals

  • Indicator Note: EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Certain industrial facilities in the U.S. must report annually how much of each chemical is disposed of or released on and off site. Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and neurotoxicants, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, that adversely impact children’s health.
  • Reference: Summary of 263 Toxic Release Inventory Facilities in Arizona. Reporting Year 2018. Accessed on April 28, 2020.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Asthma

Pediatric Cancer

Blood Lead Levels

Poverty

Federal Support to Arizona

Arizona Spotlight

All children deserve and need a safe and healthy environment to grow and develop. They need clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, nutritious food to eat, and healthy places in which to live, learn, and play. Early exposure to harmful agents can lead to acute and chronic adverse outcomes. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to environmental exposures because they breathe, eat and drink more, in proportion to their body size, than do adults, and because their bodies and brains are still developing.

A blueprint for Protecting Children’s Environmental Health Network set out to identify a set of CEHIs that can be used to provide an understanding of children’s environmental health at the state level. Through this process, CEHN found that robust, valid, and regularly updated state level data–that are comparable across most states–were not readily accessible. States need adequate funding and capacity to collect and make accessible reliable CEHI data in order to set goals and track progress towards improving children’s health.

Children are our future – society has a moral obligation to protect them. Exposure to environmental hazards can and must be prevented. Prevention requires strong environmental regulations, fully funded and supportive public and environmental health programs and a robust workforce.

Explore

Contact

  • Children's Environmental Health Network
  • 110 Maryland Avenue NE Suite 404
  • Washington D.C. 20002
  • Phone: (202) 543-4033
  • Email: cehn@cehn.org

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