New California Laws Make Food Packaging & Children’s Products Safer

kristiet_a0o04rjz on October 21, 2021

New California Laws Make Food Packaging & Children’s Products Safer

By Kathy Attar, Program Manager, Eco-Healthy Child Care®

November 2021

In October, California enacted several laws that will ban the use of toxic “forever chemicals” in children’s products and disposable food packaging. This is a win for the environment and children’s health!

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of toxic chemicals linked to kidney, liver, developmental, and reproductive issues. These chemicals contaminate waterways via firefighting foam and are primary ingredients in household products like nonstick pans, toys, makeup, fast-food containers, and waterproof apparel.

They are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment and build up in the blood and organs.

Food is considered a major source of exposure to PFAS. Because PFAS coating on infant car seats and bedding wear off with time, the toxicants can get into dust that children might inhale, making contaminated children’s products another exposure avenue.

The California laws (AB 1200 and AB 652) ban PFAS from paper, paperboard (or plant-based food packaging), utensils, and paper straws, effective January 1, 2023. They also prohibit the use of PFAS in children’s products, such as car seats and cribs, beginning on July 1, 2023.

The laws require manufacturers to label cookware that contains toxic chemicals on product handles or coatings, starting January 1, 2024. And, beginning in 2023, manufacturers will also have to make public on their websites a list of harmful chemicals present in their pots, pans, and other cookware.

The California laws follow Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington in the list of states banning PFAS from food packaging.

To reduce your exposure to PFAS chemicals in food packaging immediately you can:

  • Avoid microwave popcorn and greasy foods wrapped in paper.
  • Take fast food out of its wrapper or containers as soon as possible.
  • Transfer food to glass, porcelain, or microwave-safe pottery plates before heating leftovers in the microwave.

For more Eco-Healthy Child Care® tips take our Protecting Children’s Environmental Health e-course. Child care professionals can receive adult learning clock hours for completing the course.

Las nuevas leyes de California hacen que el envasado de alimentos y los productos para niños sean más seguros

En octubre, California promulgó varias leyes que prohibirán el uso de “químicos permanentes” tóxicos en productos para niños y envases de alimentos desechables. ¡Esta es una victoria para el medio ambiente y la salud de los niños!

Las sustancias perfluoroalquilo y polifluoroalquilo (PFAS) son un grupo de sustancias químicas tóxicas relacionadas con problemas renales, hepáticos, de desarrollo y reproductivos. Estos productos químicos contaminan las vías fluviales a través de la espuma contra incendios y son ingredientes principales en productos domésticos como sartenes antiadherentes, juguetes, maquillaje, recipientes de comida rápida y ropa impermeable.

Se les conoce como “sustancias químicas permanentes” porque no se degradan en el medio ambiente ni se acumulan en la sangre y los órganos.

Los alimentos se consideran una fuente importante de exposición al PFAS. Debido a que el recubrimiento de PFAS en los asientos de automóvil para bebés y la ropa de cama se desgasta con el tiempo, los tóxicos pueden entrar en el polvo que los niños podrían inhalar, lo que hace que los productos para niños contaminados sean otra vía de exposición.

Las leyes de California (AB 1200 y AB 652) prohíben el PFAS en papel, cartón (o envases de alimentos a base de plantas), utensilios y pajitas de papel, a partir del 1 de enero de 2023. También prohíben el uso de PFAS en productos para infatiles, como asientos de automóvil y cunas, a partir del 1 de julio de 2023.

Las leyes requieren que los fabricantes etiqueten los utensilios de cocina que contienen químicos tóxicos en las manijas o revestimientos de los productos, a partir del 1 de enero de 2024. Y, a partir de 2023, los fabricantes también tendrán que hacer pública en sus sitios web una lista de productos químicos nocivos presentes en sus ollas, sartenes y otros utensilios de cocina.

Las leyes de California siguen a Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, Nueva York, Vermont y Washington en la lista de estados que prohíben los PFAS en el envasado de alimentos.

Para reducir su exposición a los productos químicos PFAS en los envases de alimentos inmediatamente, puede:

  • Evitar las palomitas de maíz para microondas y los alimentos grasosos envueltos en papel.
  • Saque la comida rápida de su envoltorio o envases lo antes posible.
  • Transfiera los alimentos a platos de vidrio, porcelana o cerámica aptos para microondas antes de calentar las sobras en el microondas.

Para más consejos de Eco-Healthy Child Care® tome nuestro curso electrónico Protección de la salud ambiental de los niños. Los profesionales del cuidado infantil pueden recibir horas de aprendizaje para adultos

CEH Day and Climate Change Preparedness

kristiet_a0o04rjz on September 23, 2021

Children’s Environmental Health Day & Climate Change Preparedness

By Kathy Attar, Program Manager, Eco-Healthy Child Care®

October 2021

Children’s Environmental Health (CEH) Day takes place on the second Thursday of October each year. The goal of #CEHDay is to increase the visibility of children’s environmental health issues while empowering individuals and organizations to take action on behalf of children nationwide.

Children are especially vulnerable to environmental hazards because of their physiology and behavior, and children in lower-income communities and communities of color are at an even greater risk of suffering harm from their environment. 

Studies show that people of color breathe more nitrogen dioxide (NO2), an air pollutant linked with asthma, and are exposed to greater amounts of fine particulate matter (PM2.5)– also associated with asthma symptoms. Multiple studies show strong linkages between neighborhoods that were segregated through the racist practice of redlining and asthma-related emergency room visits. 

For decades, many banks in the U.S. denied mortgages to people of color, preventing them from buying a home in certain neighborhoods or getting a loan to renovate their house. Redlining — once backed by the U.S. government — started in the 1930s and took place across the country. 

Black children are three times as likely to have asthma compared to White children.

Climate change exacerbates environmental health risks like these for children. Increased summer temperatures are associated with both increased ozone and PM 2.5 as well as higher incidences of heat-related illness. 

The extreme heat that many U.S. residents experienced this summer will only become more common in the future. The heat has had devastating effects on people of all ages, but the smallest among us are especially vulnerable.

To protect children from outdoor air pollutants like ozone and PM 2.5, check the local air quality index daily at www.airnow.gov. On days where the air quality index is worse than Code Orange, it is best to keep children inside. 

To help keep children safe while playing outside when it’s hot follow these tips:

  • Plan extra water breaks
  • Provide shade (bring along small tents or umbrellas on outdoor excursions)
  • Offer a chilled snack 
  • Engage in water activities – such as playing in sprinklers or visiting a splash pad or pool
  • Plan your activities for cooler times of day (early morning is better than high noon)
  • Wear light-colored, breathable clothing

When the heat index is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, activities should be moved indoors. The heat index is calculated using air temperature and relative humidity.

The time to act on climate is now! Ensuring that all children have access to clean air, clean water, safe food and products, and healthy places to live, learn, and play is key to protecting children’s health.

This year, on October 14th, join environmental and child health advocates for Children’s Environmental Health Day (CEH Day). CEH Day is an annual celebration of children’s environmental health successes and a day to raise the visibility of issues and challenges in the field. It’s also a day to drive collective action to address the big challenges facing our little ones.

Día de la salud ambiental de los niños y preparación para el cambio climático

El día de la salud ambiental de los para los niños (CEH) se lleva a cabo el segundo jueves de octubre de cada año. El objetivo de #CEHDay es aumentar la visibilidad de los problemas de salud ambiental de los niños y, al mismo tiempo, empoderar a las personas y organizaciones para que tomen medidas en nombre de los niños en todo el país.

Los niños son especialmente vulnerables a los peligros ambientales debido a su fisiología y comportamiento, y los niños de comunidades de bajos ingresos y comunidades de color corren un riesgo aún mayor de sufrir daños a causa de su ambiente.

Los estudios demuestran que las personas de color respiran más dióxido de nitrógeno (NO2), un contaminante del aire relacionado con el asma, y ​​son expuestos a mayores cantidades de partículas finas (PM2.5), también asociado con síntomas de asma. Varios estudios muestran fuertes vínculos entre los vecindarios que fueron segregados a través de la práctica racista de marcar la línea roja y las visitas a la sala de emergencias relacionadas con el asma. 

Durante décadas, muchos bancos en los EE. UU. negaron hipotecas a personas de color, lo que les impidió comprar una casa en ciertos vecindarios o obtener un préstamo para renovar su casa. La línea roja, una vez respaldada por el gobierno de EE. UU., Comenzó en la década de 1930 y se llevó a cabo en todo el país. 

Los niños negros tienen tres veces más probabilidades de tener asma en comparación con los niños blancos.

El cambio climático agrava riesgos para la salud ambiental como estos para los niños. El aumento de las temperaturas de verano se asocia con un aumento del ozono y PM 2.5, así como con una mayor incidencia de enfermedades relacionadas con el calor. 

El calor extremo que muchos residentes de EE. UU. experimentaron este verano solo se volverá más común en el futuro. El calor ha tenido efectos devastadores en personas de todas las edades, pero los más pequeños son especialmente vulnerables.

Para proteger a los niños de los contaminantes del aire exterior como el ozono y PM 2.5, consulte el índice local de calidad del aire a diario en www.airnow.gov. En los días en que el índice de calidad del aire es peor que el del Código Naranja, es mejor mantener a los niños adentro. 

Para ayudar a mantener a los niños seguros mientras juegan afuera cuando hace calor, siga estos consejos:

  • Planifique descansos adicionales para el agua
  • Proporcione sombra (traiga carpas pequeñas o sombrillas en excursiones al aire libre)
  • Ofrezca un refrigerio frío 
  • Participe en actividades acuáticas, como jugar en rociadores o visitar una plataforma de chapoteo o piscina
  • Planifique sus actividades para las horas más frescas del día (temprano en la mañana es mejor que al mediodía)
  • Use ropa de colores claros y transpirable

Cuando el índice de calor esté por encima de los 90 grados Fahrenheit, las actividades deben trasladarse al interior. El índice de calor se calcula utilizando la temperatura del aire y la humedad relativa.

¡El momento de actuar sobre el clima es ahora! Asegurar que todos los niños tengan acceso a aire limpio, agua limpia, alimentos y productos seguros y lugares saludables para vivir, aprender y jugar es clave para proteger la salud de los niños.

Este año, el 14 de octubre, únase a los defensores del medio ambiente y la salud infantil para el Día de la Salud Ambiental Infantil (CEH Day). El Día de CEH es una celebración anual de los éxitos de la salud ambiental de los niños y un día para aumentar la visibilidad de los problemas y desafíos en el campo. También es un día para impulsar la acción colectiva para abordar los grandes desafíos que enfrentan nuestros pequeños.

Climate Change and Childhood Lead Poisoning

kristiet_a0o04rjz on July 13, 2021

Climate Change and Childhood Lead Poisoning 

By Kathy Attar, Program Manager, Eco-Healthy Child Care®

Scientists agree that our climate is changing and that humans are responsible. Climate change is more than just higher temperatures. We already see the impacts of climate change, including severe storms, temperature extremes, and drought

But what does climate change have to do with childhood lead poisoning?

Studies show that children have higher blood lead levels when it’s summer and hotter. In warm weather, windows (often painted with lead-based paint) are opened and closed more, which leads to increased lead dust in the air and on the ground. Repainting and renovation activities also are more common in warmer months. 

Climate change can make childhood lead poisoning worse, particularly in black, brown, and low-wealth communities; and, these communities are often already at greater risk of lead hazards. Climate change has an unequal impact on the aforementioned groups because it is a “threat multiplier.” It layers on top of existing public health, economic, and racial injustices in the U.S.

Black, brown, and low-wealth families are more likely to live in older, substandard housing–housing that is not maintained and has chipping, peeling, or cracking lead-based paint. More days of extreme heat increases the likelihood of lead dust accumulating inside homes and therefore heightens children’s exposures. These communities are also more often living in neighborhoods surrounded by polluting industries or busy roadways, leading to lead in soil contamination.

The need for urgent action on climate change is clear. 

To combat climate change, we must provide resources to communities that need it most. That way, all neighborhoods, and communities can be healthy and safe places to live. To learn more about the health impacts of climate change, what organizations are doing, and how you can get involved, subscribe to the Children’s Environmental Health Network’s weekly e-digest.

For steps, you can take as a parent, child care provider, or home-owner to reduce children’s exposures to lead hazards, visit our FREE Lead-Safe Toolkit. The Toolkit offers a range of resources, including a poster and worksheets that provide easy-to-follow steps for finding out if lead hazards exist in your home or child care and what to do to reduce any exposures.

El cambio climático y el envenenamiento por plomo en la niñez

Los científicos están de acuerdo en que nuestro clima está cambiando y que los seres humanos somos responsables. El cambio climático es más que temperaturas más altas. Ya vemos los impactos del cambio climático, incluyendo tormentas severas, temperaturas extremas y sequías.

Pero, ¿qué tiene que ver el cambio climático con el envenenamiento infantil por plomo?

Los estudios muestran que los niños tienen niveles más altos de plomo en la sangre cuando es  verano y hace más calor. En climas cálidos, las ventanas (a menudo pintadas con pintura a base de plomo) se abren y se cierran más, lo que conduce a un aumento de polvo con plomo en el aire y en el suelo. Las actividades de repintado y renovación también son más comunes en los meses más cálidos. 

El cambio climático puede empeorar el envenenamiento por plomo en la niñez, particularmente en comunidades negras, marrones y de bajos recursos económicos; y estas comunidades a menudo ya corren un mayor riesgo de sufrir los peligros del plomo. El cambio climático tiene un impacto desigual en los grupos antes mencionados porque es un “multiplicador de amenazas”. Se superpone a las injusticias raciales, económicas y de salud pública existentes en los EE. UU.

Las familias negras, morenas y de bajos recursos tienen más probabilidades de vivir en viviendas más antiguas y deficientes: viviendas que no se mantienen y tienen astillas, peladuras o agrietamiento de pintura a base de plomo. Más días de calor extremo aumenta la probabilidad de que el polvo de plomo se acumule dentro de las casas y, por lo tanto, aumenta la exposición de los niños. Estas comunidades también viven con mayor frecuencia en vecindarios rodeados de industrias contaminantes o carreteras concurridas, lo que lleva a la contaminación del suelo con plomo.

La necesidad de una acción urgente sobre el cambio climático es clara. 

Para combatir el cambio climático, debemos proporcionar recursos a las comunidades que más lo necesitan. De esa manera, todos los vecindarios y comunidades pueden ser lugares saludables y seguros para vivir. Para obtener más información sobre los impactos en la salud del cambio climático, qué están haciendo las organizaciones y cómo puede participar, suscríbase al e-digest semanal de Children’s Environmental Health Network.

Para conocer los pasos que puede tomar como padre, proveedor de cuidado infantil o propietario de una casa para reducir la exposición de los niños a los peligros del plomo, visite nuestro Kit de herramientas sin plomo GRATUITO. El kit de herramientas ofrece una variedad de recursos, que incluyen un póster y hojas de trabajo que brindan pasos fáciles de seguir para averiguar si existen peligros de plomo en su hogar o cuidado infantil y qué hacer para reducir cualquier exposición.

EPA’s Lead & Copper Rule: Requirements for Schools & Child Care

kristiet_a0o04rjz on February 23, 2021

EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule: Requirements for Schools and Child Care

CEHN raises awareness on the harmful effects to children from lead exposure, and we do our best to provide simple and low-to-no cost steps that families, care givers, and child care providers can take to reduce children’s exposure to lead hazards.

While lead-based paint hazards are the primary source of lead exposure to children in the U.S., lead in drinking water also contributes to a child’s body burden of the neurotoxic heavy metal, and is an especially important source for infants less than one year of age. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates lead in publicly supplied drinking water through the Lead & Copper Rule (LCR), and in December of 2020, the agency finalized a revised LCR.

A new focus area has been added to this revised LCR—specifically the requirement to test the drinking water lead levels in elementary schools and licensed child care facilities. We applaud this recognition of early care and learning settings as important environments that may contribute significantly to children’s cumulative exposures.

However, the rule isn’t perfect. Community water systems are not required to test all taps used for consumption in schools and child care facilities, which could lead to missed hazards and a false sense of security. In addition, utilities are only required to test each elementary school and licensed child care facilitiy once during a 5-year testing cycle. Thereafter, testing would be by request only. Secondary schools must request testing, despite the fact that older children and adults, especially pregnant women, are harmed by lead exposures too. And the rule did not lower the lead “action level” in water, which at 15 parts per billion (ppb), is not a health-based standard. We know that there is no safe level of lead exposure. Thus, even if the few tested taps have lead levels below 15ppb, school and child care administrators should continue to adopt routine practices to reduce lead levels to as close as possible to 0ppb. Lastly, some schools and child care facilities have known lead service lines, which contribute the greatest percentage of lead to the tap. Full replacement of these lines should precede testing, in order to determine if internal plumbing fixtures are contributing to lead levels.

The Biden Administration put a regulatory freeze on the LCR before it went into effect.  The rule is being reviewed, and it may end up being dismantled or changed. However, utilities and municipalities are already beginning to make plans to work towards compliance with the rule.  It is important for cities, communities, school districts, and school and child care administrators to know about the rule and its implications, requirements, gaps, and opportunities in order to best protect children’s health.

In order to learn more about the LCR and its implications for schools and child care programs, make sure to register for our free townhall:

EPA’s Lead & Copper Rule: What Schools and Child Care Need to Know

April 21, 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET

This is the 2nd installment of our 3-part virtual townhall series on lead in drinking water, aimed to motivate the public health community to help accelerate the elimination of lead hazards in drinking water. You do not to be a public health professional to attend. Anyone interested in learning more about the LCR and lead in drinking water, please join us for the full series!

February is National Cancer Prevention Month

kristiet_a0o04rjz on February 18, 2021

February is National Cancer Prevention Month

By Kathy Attar, MPH, Engagement Manager, Eco-Healthy Child Care®

Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the U.S. Reducing children’s exposure to harmful chemicals like pesticides can help lower their risk of getting cancer.⁠

Children may be exposed to pesticides by: playing on treated floors, lawns, and play structures; eating pesticide-treated foods; or drinking contaminated water. When pesticides are applied indoors as a spray or aerosol, small droplets can end up on carpets, floors, toys and other surfaces. Children then come into contact with these droplets by crawling or mouthing objects.

To lower pesticide exposures and control pests in your child care facility use Integrated pest management (IPM). ⁠IPM is an effective, environmentally sensitive and affordable strategy to control pests and weeds. IPM uses pest prevention practices like eliminating food and water sources and blocking entryways as ways to reduce chemical pesticide use. IPM gives you the tools to create your own plan of action.⁠

Many pesticides can take a very long time to break down. They can persist indoors for weeks on furniture, toys and other surfaces and for years in household dust. Pesticide levels in indoor air are often higher than those found in outdoor air.

Find out more information about IPM and pesticide exposures in EHCC’s newly updated pesticides fact sheet.⁠

To protect ALL children’s health, we must move beyond individual changes towards broader systems change. Our learning, health, and work sectors must adopt practices and policies to reduce toxic chemicals exposures.  

A 30%+ increase in the rate of childhood cancer diagnoses since 1975, has led scientists, health professionals, businesses, and advocates to form The Childhood Cancer Prevention Initiative whose goal is to highlight the link between environmental factors and children’s health and bring about cross-sector policy change. 

The Initiative released a new report: Childhood Cancer: Cross-Sector Strategies for Prevention that calls for the establishment of a National Childhood Cancer Prevention Research Agenda and National Childhood Cancer Prevention Plan to eradicate toxic chemicals linked to childhood cancers.

You can help make a change by supporting The Childhood Cancer Prevention Initiative–sign their letter of support today! ⁠

Racial Healing and Environmental Justice

kristiet_a0o04rjz on January 11, 2021

Racial Healing and Environmental Justice

Children from low-income communities and communities of color often have greater risk of exposures to pollution, higher levels of contaminants in their bodies, and more illness or disability such as asthma and learning disabilities. These high risk children are also experiencing the direct and indirect impacts of climate change the most and hardest. 

Structural racism has led to the disparate impact of hazardous waste sites, polluting facilities and poor quality housing stock being located in or near neighborhoods with high concentrations of Black and brown people and economically disadvantaged populations. 

The COVID-19 pandemic points a spotlight on the impact systemic racism has had on Black and brown communities’ health–leading to poorer health outcomes and increased mortality. 

The National Day of Racial Healing which occurs every year on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a time for action on #HowWeHeal from the impacts of racism. It is hosted by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and was created with the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation community partners. Racial healing is at the core of racial equity. The National Day of Racial Healing provides an opportunity for ALL communities to come together to create a more just world.

The effects of racism are evident in the health, economic and environmental policies all around us and the places in which we live, learn, work and play. People experience these effects when they take their children to child care or school, when they try to rent or buy a home in a safe and non-polluting neighborhood, and when they deal with the impacts of increased flooding, a rising heat index, and contaminated water and soil from climate change. 

The home-based Flores Family Child Care facility is located in East Los Angeles, a community made up of primarily Latinx families with over 26% of the population living below the federal poverty line. Many families with young children in East L.A. live in older and often over‐crowded housing, which is often associated with elevated environmental health risks to children. Numerous major freeways also surround the community, which pollute the air. Compared to Los Angeles County, East L.A. is disproportionately affected by health problems linked to the environment including childhood asthma. 

Between 2017 and 2019, Flores Family Child Care noticed how the majority of children in their care were frequently ill. In May 2019, a University of Southern California study found significantly elevated levels of lead in the teeth of children living in five L.A. neighborhoods including Flores’s. Lead is a known neurotoxicant, and particularly harmful to children and babies. Also located in this area, Exide Technologies’ battery recycling plant and its predecessors emitted lead and other dangerous pollutants for decades. These harmful emissions have left homes, apartments, schools, parks and child care facilities in the local area with dangerously high levels of lead contaminated soil. Fortunately, Flores Family Child Care was able to have the lead removed from their facility’s’s grounds. Their facility is also an Eco-Healthy Child Care® endorsed home-based child care. They protect children from environmental health risks by preventing vehicles from idling in the parking area as well as in pick-up and drop-off locations, thus decreasing exposure to air pollutants. Flores Family Child Care improves their indoor air quality by using furniture with fewer harmful chemicals and low-volatile organic compound paint on the facility’s walls.

We applaud child care providers like Flores Family Child Care who are protecting children and staff from environmental hazards in early learning settings. However, to bring about environmental justice we need our housing, education, and health systems, among others, to eliminate indoor and outdoor air pollution and climate risks.

East L.A. is just one example of how communities across the U.S. have suffered and continue to suffer the health effects of systemic racism. Racial healing recognizes the need to tell the truth about past wrongs created by individual and systemic racism and address the present impacts. It can build authentic relationships that bridge divides created by real and perceived differences. It is essential to pursue racial healing prior to making change in a community and to truly work toward the protection of all children.

Take action and begin the racial healing conversation in your community this year!

Celebrating Children’s Environmental Health Day

kristiet_a0o04rjz on October 22, 2020

Celebrating Children’s Environmental Health Day

By Hester Paul, M.S., National Director, Eco-Healthy Child Care® 

Thursday, October 8, 2020 was Children’s Environmental Health Day (CEH Day). CEH Day is a platform for ALL of us advocating for healthier places for children to live, learn, and play. It is a way to increase visibility, educate decision makers, and create real change for children’s health.

This year the Eco-Healthy Child Care ® (EHCC) program celebrated CEH Day by organizing a panel of early care and education professionals.

Our panelists included Hester Paul, National Director of EHCC, Sue Kowaleski, Coordinator, Southern Adirondack Child Care Network, Michelle Barnes, Executive Director of the Helen Walton Children’s Enrichment Center, and Nicole Garro, Director, Early Childhood Health at Child Care Aware of America. Collectively the group has over 50 years of experience working to improve the quality of child care across the U.S.

Panelists talked about why children’s environmental health is so important to their work as child care professionals. The Helen Walton Children’s Enrichment Center became engaged in environmental health when several of the children they served were diagnosed with cancer. This sparked them to look at their practices and the facility itself to reduce environmental hazards in order to protect the health of children and staff. 

Panelists also spoke of the pandemics impact on the child care field. Both Sue and Nicole highlighted how Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies have heard from child care providers about the challenges of obtaining safer cleaning and disinfecting products for their facilities given the increased focus on cleaning protocols. Providers are also seeking straight forward and science-based advice about how to safely run a child care facility during the pandemic. To help meet this new need Child Care Aware of America has developed a coronavirus resource hub for child care providers and is providing technical assistance to child care centers across the U.S.

Child care providers have always been integral to families’ overall health and well-being. During the COVID-19 pandemic child care professionals continue to play a key role in supporting essential workers. However, the pandemic has increased pressure on the already overburdened child care system. Many providers are closing their facilities because of economic pressures while others are struggling to stay open. 

The CEH Day panel did believe the pandemic could bring a renewed focus on environmental health within the child care field–offering an opportunity to disseminate EHHC‘s message to a wider audience.

To assist providers in protecting their health and safety along with the children they care for during the pandemic, EHCC has created user-friendly and science-based materials in English and Spanish, based upon CDC’s COVID-19 guidance for cleaning, disinfecting and indoor air quality in child care facilities. 

Listen to the CEH Day child care panel on our YouTube page and access our newly created COVID-19 fact-sheets (English and Spanish) on safer cleaning and disinfecting and indoor air quality on our COVID-19 resource page.

Celebrating 48 Years of the Clean Water Act

kristiet_a0o04rjz on October 22, 2020

Celebrating 48 Years of the Clean Water Act

October 18th marked the 48th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act was a long-awaited reaction to the irresponsible dumping of pollution into our waterways. When the Act was passed, nearly  two-thirds of the country’s lakes, rivers and coastal waters had become unsafe, polluted with untreated sewage, oil, trash, chemicals, and other industrial waste. 

As we celebrate this anniversary, it is also a rallying call to protect the progress made so far, and to hold our elected officials accountable. Even today, 39% of American rivers, 45% of our lakes, and 51% of the estuaries monitored in the US are contaminated. In fact, the current administration has continued to work relentlessly to undermine the protections provided by the Clean Water Act for the past 48 years. They have rolled back vital safeguards and given corporate polluters access to wage an assault on our public health and safety.

Clean water is fundamental to public health. This year, in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, clean water has become even more central to protecting our nation’s health. Just as black and brown communities have borne the brunt of COVID-19, low income communities and communities of color are often disproportionately impacted by polluted water. These communities are also the ones most immediately impacted by climate change, which poses an increasing threat to our water sources.

Water equity, just like health equity, matters. The ability to access safe water for drinking, cleaning, cooking, and enjoying is absolutely necessary to cultivate happy, healthy communities,  where all are able to thrive and reach their full potential. Access to clean water is a fundamental right that every child in this country should be afforded. Our leaders have a moral obligation to protect and uphold this right. We cannot hope to accomplish justice for all if we do not protect safeguards for the water on which our communities and our children depend, like the Clean Water Act.

Children are especially vulnerable to environmental hazards like water pollution. Their bodies are still developing, so a smaller dose of a pollutant can have a bigger impact than on an adult and can have long-lasting physical and mental impacts on a child’s life course. For instance, childhood lead exposure from polluted water sources can damage a child’s brain and nervous system, slow their growth and development, and cause learning and behavior problems and lowered IQ. 

Much like our water sources, our children are some of our most valuable resources, yet their health and that of their families and communities have not been at the forefront of our nation’s policies and programs. The Children’s Environmental Health Network’s 2020 Voter Guide helps engaged citizens assess their local, state, and federal candidates’ commitment to five key issues: Children’s Health and Equity, Climate Action, Clean Air, Clean Water, and Toxic-free Environments and Products. 

The 2020 elections offer an opportunity to reset our national, state, and local priorities and to put children’s health and their environment at the center of decision-making, including prioritizing clean water for all. Please use this resource as you go to the polls this fall, and share it widely, especially with those who may not be familiar with water quality and children’s environmental health issues. Let’s celebrate the Clean Water Act’s anniversary by uniting at the polls for equity, and a clean and healthy environment for ALL children!

© Children’s Environmental Health Network, 2025

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  • 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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