National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Convergence on Climate Change and Health

NIEHS supports a series of workshops in Canada, Singapore and India to raise awareness and build capacity for the health implications of climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has drawn on the growing body of worldwide evidence to state with very high confidence that climate change contributes to the global burden of disease and premature deaths. It has further concluded that adaptive capacity needs to be improved everywhere and that adverse health impacts will be greatest in low-income countries and among vulnerable groups in all countries. Increasingly, health ministries and other public and private organizations concerned with human health recognize why they must play an important role in adapting to and mitigating climate change.

Full Article (131KB)

GEH Podcasts

A Global Network to Advance Children’s Health (2-part series)

Children around the world face serious health consequences from harmful environmental exposures. The Children’s Environmental Health Collaborating Centres Network is a global collaboration among research institutions with a focus on reducing this important health burden. NIEHS is involved in this network as part of the Institute’s role as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. In this podcast series, we explore how the network helps to advance research and interventions to improve children’s health around the world.

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Improved Air Quality During Beijing Olympics Linked to Higher Birth Weights

Short-term decreases in air pollution late in pregnancy are associated with higher birth weight, according to an NIEHS-funded collaborative study that focused on Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Chinese government implemented policies to reduce air pollution for about 47 days during the Olympics, providing an opportunity for a natural experiment to evaluate how changes in air pollution during certain pregnancy windows could affect birthweight.

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Voices from the Field: Air Pollution Research in Mexico City

Once declared the world’s most polluted city, Mexico City no longer holds that distinction. Over the past two decades, the city has made tremendous progress fighting air pollution. That does not mean that the fight is over. US researchers have worked closely with their Mexican counterparts to address this issue. Allan Just, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, NY, is one such researcher. In this edition of the Voices from the Field, he shares his experience of conducting air pollution research in Mexico City, Mexico.

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Other Research

• E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem
• Developmental Origins of Health and Disease: Integrating Environmental Influences
• A Quarter Century of the Pacific Basin Consortium: Looking Back to Move Forward
• A Pilot Study Comparing Observational and Questionnaire Surrogate Measures of Pesticide Exposure Among Residents Impacted by the Ecuadorian Flower Industry
• Indoor Air Pollution Exposure from use of Indoor Stoves and Fireplaces in Association with Breast Cancer: a Case-Control Study
• Using High-Resolution Satellite Aerosol Optical Depth to Estimate Daily PM2.5 Geographical Distribution in Mexico City
• Re-evaluating Occupational Heat Stress in a Changing Climate

NIEHS Climate Change and Environmental Exposures Challenge
Climate change is likely to alter the risks posed by environmental exposures in ways that are just beginning to be explored. NIEHS invites you to help decision makers around the country understand and address climate change’s effects on environmental health risks by joining the Climate Change and Environmental Exposures Challenge (#climatechallengeNIEHS). By creating data visualization tools and maps that connect current science on climate change to the exposure pathways for environmental hazards, innovators can help identify areas and people at greatest risk and help to prioritize protective actions.

• Announcement of Requirements and Registration for the NIEHS Climate Change and Environmental Exposures Challenge

• PAR-15-291: International Research Scientist Development Award (IRSDA) (K01)
• PAR-15-292: Emerging Global Leader Award (K43)
• Planning for Regional Centers of Research Excellence in Non-communicable Diseases in Low and Middle Income Countries (P20) (RFA-CA-15-007)
• RFA-HL-16-012: Household Air Pollution (HAP) Health Outcomes Trial (UM1)

• Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
  The final Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) were adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015. Detailed goals, infographics, and outcome documents are now available.
• Five years of Impact: 2010-2015
  As the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves celebrates its fifth anniversary, this report highlights progress and success of the program and previews future directions.