News and Highlights

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco Pregnancy Exposures to Environmental Chemicals Children’s Center have developed a new screening method that enables detection of hundreds of chemicals in blood samples. This method may help researchers assess chemical exposures in different populations, including pregnant women, and prioritize specific chemicals for future studies.

Researchers from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Children’s Center discovered that rats exposed to an environmentally-relevant mixture of phthalates shortly before and after birth experienced a reduction in neurons, synapses, and size of their medial prefrontal cortex. They also found that exposure led to a deficit in rats’ cognitive ability to process or adapt to new or unexpected conditions.

Investigators at the University of California, Berkeley Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment launched two new webpages using colorful infographics and relatable story-telling to share tips about protecting children from leukemia. The webpages, “Rosa and Carlos Plan a Family” and “Dirty Little Secrets About House Dust,” are available in in English and Spanish.

Investigators at the Emory Center for Children’s Health, the Environment, the Microbiome, and Metabolomics launched a social impact campaign called “Know Better, Live Better.” Geared towards African American women, the campaign shares educational resources, videos, and tips to help protect mothers and their children from harmful chemical exposures.

Researchers from the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health are the first to show that levels of childhood exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers, a flame retardant once widely used in consumer products, significantly decreased over a 15-year period (between 1998 and 2013).

Investigators at the University of California, San Francisco Pregnancy Exposures to Environmental Chemicals Children’s Center created a series of short videos featuring puppets as correspondents from 60 Minutes. The purpose of these videos, called “60 MiNueTs,” is to introduce the general public to issues and challenges related to environmental health policy.

A recent study from the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health indicated that prenatal exposure to air pollutants, specifically polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, may be associated with shorter telomere length in a cohort of Chinese newborns. Researchers conducted a study of newborns born before and after the 2004 closure of a coal-burning power plant in Tongliang, China. Results showed that children born before closure of the plant had shorter telomeres than those who were conceived and born after the plant’s operations.

Todd Whitehead, Ph.D., career development investigator for the University of California, Berkeley Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment, was recognized as one of 20 pioneers under 40 in environmental public health by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment. As part of this recognition, Whitehead was given an opportunity to present during a webinar where he shared more about the Center’s research.

An op-ed article about the risks that different exposures pose to the fetus and developing children by Frederica Perera, Dr.P.H., director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, was published in The New York Times.

A group of Children’s Centers investigators co-authored a paper about the importance of small-magnitude effect sizes in epigenetic points for children’s environmental health research. The paper was published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

The Southern California Children’s Environmental Health Center organized and hosted a “Parks, Pollution, and Obesity” conference which was attended by more than 200 community, academic, and decision-making stakeholders with expertise in environmental health, urban design, and parks planning.

Investigators at the UC Berkeley Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment (CIRCLE) developed educational materials that involve creative messaging about the role of pre-conception and prenatal environmental influences on health, and positive actions to take in mitigating risk of exposure.

Dana Dolinoy, Ph.D., investigator at the University of Michigan Children’s Center, received the Outstanding Young Investigator award from the Society of Toxicology, Women in Toxicology group in spring 2017.

Margaret Karagas, Ph.D., director for the Dartmouth Center for Children’s Environmental Health was interviewed by Health.com about ways to reduce dietary arsenic exposure .

Researchers from the Southern California Children’s Environmental Health Center determined that children with asthma may be more likely become obese later in childhood or adolescence.

Findings from an animal study at the Duke Center on Neurodevelopment and Improving Children’s Health following Environmental Tobacco Smoke exposure (NICHES) showed harmful effects of secondhand smoke even before pregnancy, which raises caution for women of childbearing age.

A paper authored by investigators at the Dartmouth Center for Children’s Environmental Health was named as one of several NIEHS 2016 Papers of the Year. This paper, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, is one of the first to report an association between low-level arsenic exposure during pregnancy and birth outcomes.

Researchers from the Southern California Children’s Environmental Health Center authored a comprehensive report, “The effects of policy-driven air quality improvements on children’s respiratory health,” which was published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI). A synopsis of the report is also available from the HEI.

Researchers at the Emory Center for Children's Health, the Environment, the Microbiome, and Metabolomics (C-CHEM2) and community collaboratorscreated a short documentary to introduce their Center and children’s environmental health topics to the African-American community in metro Atlanta.

Researchers from the UCSF Pregnancy Exposures to Environmental Chemicals Children’s Center measured exposure to 59 toxic chemicals in pregnant women and their newborns, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs).

The Northeastern Center for Research on Early Childhood Exposure and Development (CRECE) in Puerto Rico held a continuing education event to enhance speech language pathology pratictioners’ and graduate students’ knowledge about the effects of environmental exposures on children.

Barbara Fiese, Community Outreach and Translation Core lead for the Children’s Environmental Health Research Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, was featured in a NIEHS-sponsored podcast on ways to reduce harmful exposures and create a healthy environment in the child-care setting.