EPA Region 6 Celebrates Children’s Health Month

 USEPA News Release:

EPA Region 6 Celebrates Children’s Health Month

DALLAS, TEXAS (October 18, 2023) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 is proudly celebrating Children’s Health Month this October by spreading awareness about the importance of protecting children from environmental threats where they live, learn and play. Improving children’s environmental health now means healthier people in the future.

“Protecting future generations from long-term environmental damage is pivotal to EPA’s overall mission,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “By upgrading to clean school buses, educating communities about environmental hazards, and strengthening regulations to reduce lead exposure in children, EPA has and will continue to safeguard children’s health in all communities across the nation.”

Early exposure to environmental pollutants can have lifelong health implications. Children’s developing bodily systems are more sensitive to pollutants and their unique behaviors can often expose them more environmental hazards. EPA recognizes that children, especially those in under-resourced communities are often the most vulnerable to environmental harm and can suffer the most. 

We continue to advance the protection of children’s health in our work across Region 6.  Some highlights from this year include:

• Awarded over $72 million in clean school bus rebates, providing for the replacement of over 180 buses that service school districts in socio-economically disadvantaged, rural and tribal communities, improving air quality and reducing climate pollution in these communities.
• Trained hundreds of community members, childcare providers, school nurses, pediatric health care providers and health workers on how to protect children from exposure to environmental hazards by hosting Children’s Environmental Health Symposiums and Healthy Homes trainings around the region.
• Protected our most vulnerable communities through our partnership with Head Start – training childcare center operators and staff, hosting “reading time” and providing books to children and providing educational material for parents.
• Educated migrant farmworkers and their families on how to protect themselves from the health effects of pesticide exposure.
• Championed the prevention of childhood lead exposure by holding twelve lead-poisoning prevention training sessions reaching approximately 250 participants, including members of 26 tribal organizations.

• Utilized a risk-based cleanup process for the Superfund program which includes child specific exposure factors and toxicity benchmarks. Specifically, the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model for lead is used to evaluate the risk from lead by estimating children’s blood level from exposure to soil, dust, air, tapwater and food and aids in developing protective cleanup levels at Superfund sites.
• Lowered the exposure risk for children and families to hazardous chemicals by sampling, monitoring and remediating contaminated sites such as the San Antonio Lead site and assessing risk through the Louisiana Lead Cable Assessment Initiative.

Join us in protecting children this October and learn more about children’s environmental health.