What is pediatric environmental health?
Pediatric environmental health includes the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illness due to preconception, prenatal, perinatal and pediatric exposures to environmental hazards AND the creation of healthy environments for children. An “environmental illness” typically results from passive environmental or occupational exposure that results from contamination of air, water, soil, or food. Environmental exposures include both man-made contaminants such as DDT and natural hazards such as radon. Typical environmental exposures include second hand tobacco smoke, indoor air contaminants triggering allergies or asthma, and ultraviolet light from the sun. The creation of healthy environments for children includes improving the built environment by planning places for children to walk and play, using the safest building materials, and having adequate ventilation indoors.
