Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health

Over 400 scientists, public officials, community leaders, and advocates for environmental health attended the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) and WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT) March 30 conference on “Translating Science to Policy: Protecting Children’s Environmental Health.” The purpose of symposium was to review 10 years of research findings from the Center and other scientists, discuss interventions stemming from this research, and identify strategies to advance policies that will reduce and prevent environmentally-related diseases such as asthma, developmental disorders, and cancer in children living in urban communities. Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Linda S. Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), gave keynote speeches.

The morning session focused on three major environmental health challenges: air pollution from fossil fuel combustion, residential pesticides, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in common consumer products. Peggy Shepard, executive director and co-founder of WE ACT, discussed the benefits of community-academic partnerships in building community power to improve environmental health, protection, and policy in local communities. Afternoon roundtables, moderated by Brian Lehrer, host of The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC Radio, addressed the issues of urban air pollution and climate change, and the regulation of residential pesticides and consumer products in the home.

• Videos of the conference
• Watch keynote addresses by Lisa Jackson and Linda Birnbaum
• Watch case study presentations
• Watch policy roundtable: “Addressing Urban Air Pollution and Climate Change”
• Watch policy roundtable: “Healthy Homes — Regulating Residential Pesticides and Consumer Products”
• Read feature in the Mailman School of Public Health’s newsletter
• Read feature in the NIEHS newsletter, Environmental Factor
• See photos

Conference Materials

• Abstracts
• Welcome letter from Mayor Michael Bloomberg
• Speaker bios
• Conference program
• Key findings & interventions
• CCCEH fact sheet
• WE ACT fact sheet
• Promoting Environmental Health Policy Through Community Based Participatory Research: A Case Study by V.B. Vásquez, M. Minkler, and P. Shepard
• The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act — Pew Charitable Trusts fact sheet
• Overview of CCCEH studies
• Press release

Sponsors: The John Merck Fund, The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Passport Foundation, The New York Community Trust