Global chemical contamination serious threat to child development
July 2005· Concern is growing worldwide over the long-term health effects of chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These pollutants are toxic and they don’t go away. Instead of degrading, they accumulate and remain in the tissue of humans and animals and other ecosystems for a long period. This bio-accumulation of toxic chemicals increases the risk for diseases such as cancer. It also contributes to abnormalities in brain development and in the reproductive systems of animals and human beings.

Pediatric Environmental Health Symposium 2005: Doctors and nurses urged to take patients’ environmental history and become active in environmental issues
June 2005· “Pediatric Environmental Health: Putting It Into Practice” symposium hosted by the Baylor College of Medicine, City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services, Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health and Texas Children’s Hospital brought experts in the fields of pediatrics and environmental medicine together to inform doctors, nurses and other health care providers about environmental health issues in treating children. The speakers discussed the importance of exposure history in a pediatric practice, environmental health in the health care community, reimbursement for environmental health services and the environmental health tracking network.