Pediatric Environmental Health Web Toolkit for Providers

Parents say they are concerned about environmental health threats, yet most pediatric care providers do not offer prevention strategies during office visits. Why? Many providers report they feel ill equipped to educate families about common exposures. In an effort to fill the need for environmental health information, PEHSU and PSR have launched the Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit (PEHT). The PEHT, endorsed by the AAP, is based on material in the AAP “Green Book”. This free and up-to-date resource offers trusted information at your fingertips. Bookmark the toolkit web app and discover simple ways to educate and guide parents about environmental health during well child visits.

• PEHT is a concise reference created and peer-reviewed by experts in the field
• Free and without advertising
• User-friendly on any mobile device or computer
• Evidence-based overviews on health hazards related to air, water, food and products
• Anticipatory guidance keyed to patient age, from prenatal through teen years, on topics from how to avoid toxicants in the home to healthy eating practices

The PEHT provides examples of everyday environmental interactions for children and steps clinicians and parents can take to decrease harmful exposure. Beginning in the womb and continuing throughout life, multiple environmental factors are strong determinants of health, even decades later, making it ever more important to provide the most current and scientifically-based advice to patients on how to have healthy families. Research shows that parents are anxious to have this information. Now, the PEHT makes it easy for clinicians to provide.

Three key sections cover the basics:

• Briefs of health environmental hazards found in the air, water, food and consumer products; includes sections on health effects, routes of exposure and prevention strategies.

• Key concepts including the unique vulnerability of children, how the chemical, built and food environments influence health, and environmental justice.

• Anticipatory guidance keyed to thirteen age groups from prenatal through teen years.

Want to dig deeper? Check out the trusted resources and references with links such as to the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units who you can contact for help to answer your questions about environmental health issues.

“Like the ‘pocket guides’ of the past, this new web-based reference is at your fingertips on your mobile device. You can feel confidence in the concise information and guidance provided as it was created and peer-reviewed by experts in the field nationwide,” says Dr. Nick Newman, a pediatrician and the Medical Director of the Pediatric Environmental Health and Lead Clinic in Cincinnati. “It is also free of charge and without advertising so there is no reason not to bookmark it and use it.”

The PEHSU website is supported by the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) and funded (in part) by the cooperative agreement FAIN: U61TS000238 from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Acknowledgement: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the PEHSU by providing partial funding to ATSDR under Inter-Agency Agreement number DW-75-95877701. Neither EPA nor ATSDR endorse the purchase of any commercial products or services mentioned in PEHSU publications.