EPA Research Partner Support Story: Increasing Health Care Professional Expertise in Environmental Exposures and Children
Partner(s): Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)and Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs)
Challenge: Given limited environmental health training in health‑professional school curricula, PEHSUs fill knowledge gaps for healthcare providers on how environmental contaminants may affect children’s health and how to prevent, recognize, and manage related exposures and effects.
Resource: ATSDR and EPA support the PEHSU network, and EPA regional offices work with their local PEHSU on projects to address children’s environmental health in their region.
Project Period: 2005 - Present
“The training provided by the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 and the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit Region 6 delivered practical, evidence-based instruction that strengthened Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) staff’s ability to identify and address environmental health risks affecting children.” — Ebony Jackson, Arkansas Department of Health
PEHSUs are a network of pediatricians, nurses, health educators and other health professionals with expertise to serve as a resource for others working in the prevention, diagnosis, management, and treatment of health issues that arise from environmental exposures, from preconception through adolescence. There is one PEHSU in each federal region, and they are affiliated with universities or academic health centers.
Over the past 30 years, PEHSUs have helped countless children and their families address adverse health impacts resulting from environmental exposures through consultations, education, and outreach initiatives. PEHSUs are an important source of children’s environmental health information, not only for healthcare providers, but also for parents, schools, childcare centers, local and state health officials.
For example, in 2014, PEHSU staff provided technical assistance to pediatricians during the Flint water crisis after children presented with elevated blood lead levels. They worked with medical and public health professionals on long-term plans for lead exposure mitigation. PEHSUs have also been helpful in communicating to parents and other caregivers about the risks their children face from harmful environmental contaminants (such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)) through the development of educational and outreach materials on the health impacts of these contaminants and how families can reduce their exposures. On the ground support by PEHSUs has included assisting families with resources to help reduce asthma triggers by removing mold and providing donated materials such as vacuums, hypoallergenic mattress covers and pillowcases. In February 2026, EPA Region 6 collaborated with its regional PEHSU and local partners host a children’s environmental health symposium on a variety of environmental exposures, such as children’s exposures to lead and pesticides.
An important feature of PEHSUs is that they are located in each of the 10 federal regions. EPA regional children’s health coordinators work closely with them to coordinate specific projects to children’s health concerns within their regions. By having a PEHSU in each region, efforts are focused and specialized to the environmental issues of most concern to their respective communities.