Project TENDR

Targeting Environmental Neuro-Development Risks

New Study: Disparities in Neurotoxic Exposures and Harm to Children of Color & Children in Low-Income Families, in EHP Today.

Landmark research review is the first to examine disparities in neurotoxic exposures and the harmful effects of those exposures on children by race, ethnicity, and economic status

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 27, 2023—Children from families with low incomes and families of color are exposed to more neurotoxic chemicals and experience greater harm that impacts brain development and contributes to developmental delays according to a review of more than 200 studies published today in the peer-reviewed journal, Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). The study is titled “Disparities in Toxic Chemical Exposures and Associated Neurodevelopmental Outcomes: A Scoping Review and Systematic Evidence Map of the Epidemiological Literature.”

Neurotoxic chemicals include but are not limited to lead, particulate matter, organophosphate pesticides, PBDE flame retardants, PCBs, and phthalates in air, water, soil, food, food packaging, and plastics.

“As a result of discriminatory practices and policies, families with low incomes and families of color are currently and historically disproportionately exposed to chemicals without their knowledge or consent where they live, work, play, pray, and learn,” says co-Lead Author Devon C. Payne-Sturges, Project TENDR member and associate professor, University of Maryland School of Public Health. “Their neighborhoods are more likely to be located near factories, chemical plants, superfund sites, highways and more vehicle traffic, or by agricultural fields where pesticides are applied. Our study demonstrates children from families experiencing higher exposures are also experiencing greater health and developmental challenges and that when these exposures are reduced, the neurological health of children of color improves.”

Additional findings confirmed by the author’s analysis of studies that measured neurotoxic exposures by sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors include:
● Low-income and Black children had higher exposures to lead.
● Children in communities of color and low-income communities were more highly exposed to air pollution.
● Black and Hispanic children were exposed to higher levels of organophosphate pesticides.
● Black and Hispanic mothers had higher levels of phthalates — neurotoxic chemicals in everyday plastics such as food and drink packaging, and in personal care products like shampoos and body washes.

The studies that looked further found greater impacts to brain development for those children experiencing high exposures. For example:
● Babies living in economically disinvested neighborhoods in their first year of life and exposed to air pollution were more likely to be diagnosed with autism.
● Low socioeconomic status magnified the harmful effects of lead exposure on children’s cognitive function.
● Air pollution exposures were associated with more adverse Performance IQ scores among children from lower-income families.
● Air pollution exposures were associated with worse memory functioning scores among Hispanic and Black boys with exposure to high prenatal stress.

“We need more stringent environmental standards to address pollution that is disproportionately impacting low-income communities and communities of color,” says co- Lead Author Tanya Khemet Taiwo, Project TENDR member and Bastyr University Midwifery Department assistant professor. “But, it’s just as important that we find a way to improve the unjust systems and social policies that create harmful conditions in the first place. As researchers, we can contribute by better documenting how and why children living in poverty and children of color are suffering the greatest harms. And, researchers and policymakers need to collaborate with communities to learn from their experience and expertise, and support locally-driven solutions.”

Project TENDR, a program of The Arc, is an alliance of more than 50 leading scientists, health professionals, and advocates focused on protecting children from toxic chemicals and pollutants harmful to brain development, and on eliminating disproportionate exposures to children of color and children from low-wealth communities.

The authors of the paper found that despite decades of evidence that families with low incomes and families of color are more highly exposed to neurotoxic chemicals, most researchers failed to examine how race, ethnicity, and economic hardship interact with those exposures to produce differing outcomes. When scientists do investigate those interactions, they find toxic chemical exposures are more strongly associated with learning, attention, and behavior problems for children in families that are also exposed to social and economic adversities. Additionally, the research review yielded a conspicuous lack of studies that examined the exposures and neurodevelopmental outcomes among American Indian, Alaska Native, and Asian American communities.

Numerous environmental justice groups such as the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, and Farmworker Association of Florida, Inc have been collaborating with communities to address the impacts of exposure to toxins. They partner with diverse groups around the country, including Black and Hispanic communities, tribes and Indigenous populations, and farmworker families, to better protect children’s health through shared research and education and collaborative organizing and advocacy.

To complement grassroots initiatives, the authors of the review call on all levels of government to limit, lower, and eliminate existing pollution levels and toxic chemical use (including pesticides); halt locating and permitting new chemical and plastics manufacturing plants in or near communities of color and low-income communities; and enact stronger workplace protections.

“FDA and EPA can act now — not later — to protect families from neurotoxic chemicals by banning phthalates from food contact materials; eliminating lead from residential environments, aviation gas, and children’s foods; ending the use of organophosphate pesticides and setting air pollution standards to protect child brain development,” said Dr. Payne-Sturges, who was a policy specialist at EPA for 12 years.

The study’s authors, all of whom are Project TENDR researchers, reviewed 212 studies spanning five decades from 1974 to 2022. The review included studies that examined children ages 0-18, seven neurotoxic chemicals, and a wide array of neurodevelopmental outcomes.

In addition to the study, EHP published an Invited Perspective, to offer context on the review, from Aisha Dickerson, PhD, MSPH, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins and researcher who studies environmental exposures and their disproportionate impact on autism and dementia risks in underserved communities across the lifespan.

“Lead in Baby Foods” – Project TENDR letter to the editor, New York Times, Sunday, Feb 5, 2023.

Project TENDR’s Letter to the Editor, “Lead in Baby Foods,” published in Sunday New York Times, Feb. 5, 2023. Authored by Project TENDR expert on lead and children’s health, Dr. Mark Mitchell, using his National Medical Association affiliation.

Project TENDR expert in The Hill on FDA refusal to get neurotoxic phthalates out of food, May 2022.

Project TENDR’s press release on FDA’s decision in May 2022 to leave 9 phthalates approved for food contact materials, including those with long-standing evidence of neurodevelopmental and reproductive harm, resulted in an article in The Hill quoting Project TENDR expert Dr. Ami Zota.

 

Project TENDR Letter Urges CDC to Revise Lead Reference Level for Children

https://projecttendr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Project-TENDR-letter_CDC_BLRL-8.2.21.pdf

CNN reports Project TENDR’s science-based recommendations for eliminating use of phthalates to protect babies’ brains.

CNN features an in-depth examination of Project TENDR’s new report in AJPH calling for eliminating use of neurotoxic phthalates to protect child brain development.

New TENDR Article, “Neurotoxicity of Ortho-Phthalates: Recommendations for Critical Policy Reforms to Protect Brain Development in Children” in today’s American Journal of Public Health.

In a peer-reviewed article published today in the American Journal of Public Health, leading scientists and health professionals of Project TENDR identify ortho-phthalates as neurotoxic chemicals that increase children’s risks for learning, attention, and behavioral disorders. In particular, prenatal exposures to phthalates can contribute to attention problems in children.

The TENDR experts call for swift government and corporate action to eliminate the use of the entire class of ortho-phthalates to protect child brain development. Phthalates are widely used in personal care products and cosmetics, in food packaging and processing equipment, flooring and other building materials. Black and Latina women have higher exposure to phthalates than White women, independent of income level.

Leading Experts Call for Immediate Action as Mounting Evidence Links Air Pollution to Autism, Reduced IQ in Children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 21, 2019

Washington, D.C.—Today, leading environmental health experts released an article in the American Journal of Public Health citing mounting evidence linking air pollution to neurodevelopmental disorders in children, like autism, ADHD, memory deficiencies and reduced IQ. The authors called on government officials to take swift action to reduce toxic air pollution and protect children’s brain development.

“An increasing body of studies strongly suggests that air pollution exposure can have long term impacts on brain development in children,” said Melanie Marty, a co-author of the paper and former chair of U.S. EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee. “It’s not just cardiovascular and respiratory disease in adults we need to consider – air pollution must be limited to protect the health of our children’s developing brains.”

The paper, which focused on combustion-related air pollutants from burning of fossil fuel, agricultural waste, and from wildfires, includes specific recommendations for federal and local government officials to protect children, chief among them a call to strengthen and enforce the fuel efficiency standards already in place.

“If these recommendations are taken seriously, fewer children will face the challenge of living with neurodevelopmental disorders and more people will be able to fully participate in society across their life span,” the authors wrote.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Trump has a long record of ignoring science on the dangers of a multitude of toxic chemicals. An investigation by the New York Times in December found that the Trump administration had rolled back, or was in the process of rolling back, 21 federal protections related to air pollution and emissions.

“Low-income communities are particularly susceptible to a host of toxic chemicals, including air pollution,” said Devon C. Payne-Sturges, the paper’s lead author and former Assistant Director for U.S. EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research. “The most effective way to ensure we’re protecting children’s brain development, regardless of socioeconomic status or ethnicity, is to limit these toxic air pollutants as a group.”

 

Read the full paper here.

New Scientific Paper: Broad Class of Pesticides Puts Children at Risk for Reduced IQ, Learning Disabilities

New Scientific Paper: Broad Class of Pesticides Puts Children at Risk for Reduced IQ, Learning Disabilities

Leading Scientists Call for EPA to Ban All Organophosphate Pesticides and Urge Comprehensive Steps to Protect Children

Washington, D.C. — Today, leading toxics experts released a scientific paper in the journal PLOS Medicine warning of the dangers widely-used agricultural pesticides pose to children’s health and development. The authors found that exposure to organophosphate pesticides, even at low levels previously considered safe, can lead to cognitive problems in children, like reduced IQ, developmental delays and increased risk of learning disabilities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Trump is ignoring clear science behind the danger of such pesticides. EPA scientists and scientific advisors have reported strong evidence that supports a ban on the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos, leading a federal appeals court to rule in August that the EPA must ban chlorpyrifos, but the Trump Administration just announced last month that it will appeal the court’s ruling. Based on a review by its own scientists, the EPA originally proposed to ban chlorpyrifos in 2016, which was subsequently reversed in 2017 under President Trump. The court’s decision to order the chlorpyrifos ban was due to “scientific evidence that its residue on food causes neurodevelopmental damage to children.”

“Children deserve to be healthy and safe from exposure to toxic chemicals. We have compelling evidence from dozens of human studies that exposures of pregnant women to very low levels of organophosphate pesticides put children and fetuses at risk for developmental problems that may last a lifetime.” said Irva Hertz-Picciotto, the paper’s lead author, director of the UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center and co-director of Project TENDR (Targeting Environmental Neuro-Development Risks). “Current U.S. EPA policy is failing to protect children and fetuses here in the U.S. from these dangerous chemicals. By law, the EPA cannot ignore such clear findings: It’s time for a ban not just on chlorpyrifos, but all organophosphate pesticides.”

The paper provides an up-to-date review of the science available on risks to children from low-level prenatal exposures to not just chlorpyrifos, but the full class of organophosphate pesticides. These pesticides were developed initially as a nerve gases before World War II. More than 40 organophosphate pesticides are now considered hazardous to human health by the U.S. EPA or the World Health Organization.

“We found no evidence of a safe level of organophosphate pesticide exposure for children. Well before birth, organophosphate pesticides are disrupting the brain in its earliest stages, putting them on track for difficulties in learning, memory and attention, effects which may not appear until they reach school-age,” said Bruce Lanphear, one of the paper’s co-authors and a physician-scientist at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia. “Government officials around the world need to listen to science, not chemical lobbyists, and protect our children from chlorpyrifos and all organophosphate pesticides.”

The authors also lay out a set of recommendations that, if implemented, could result in substantial reductions in the pesticide burden to individuals. Besides eliminating use of these pesticides in agriculture, the recommendations call for removing them from non-agricultural uses and products, proactively monitoring sources of drinking water, and establishing a program for reporting of pesticide use and illnesses. Additional recommendations are for greater medical education on the risks from organophosphate pesticides so that health providers understand how to treat pesticide poisonings and can educate their patients on ways to avoid pesticide exposures; and for agricultural entities to train their workers using appropriate languages in the proper handling and application of pesticides, and to increase the use of less toxic alternatives and move towards sustainable pest control measures.

“Exposure of children and pregnant women to these toxic pesticides can have significant and long-lasting effects,” said Jeanne Conry, past president the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and president-elect of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. “Health care professionals are on the front line of responding to organophosphate pesticide exposure, but the only way to make sure families aren’t exposed in the first place is to ban them completely.”

“Alternatives to these toxic pesticides exist, and many farmers have successfully eliminated use of organophosphate pesticides. The agricultural community has a responsibility to use these alternatives. We need federal support for research on less toxic pest management and support to our farmers so they can farm sustainably and profitably, as well as alternatives to organophosphate use to control mosquitos and other public health threats,” said Asa Bradman, environmental health scientist at UC Berkeley and co-author of the paper. “Agriculture must also do a better job of protecting farm workers and their families from exposure, by making sure they have the training and equipment necessary to prevent exposure to organophosphate pesticides.”

Hawaii recently became the first U.S. state to ban chlorpyrifos use. Internationally, the European Union denied the approval of 33 organophosphate pesticides, and several other countries have outright banned a handful of other organophosphate pesticides.

Read the paper here.

The paper’s authors include:

  • Irva Hertz-Picciotto, UC Davis Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine,
  • Jennifer B. Sass, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Senior Scientist of Federal Toxics, Health and Food, Healthy People & Thriving Communities Program
  • Stephanie Engel, University of North Carolina Professor Department of Epidemiology
  • Deborah H. Bennett, UC Davis Professor of Public Health
  • Asa Bradman, UC Berkeley Associate Director, Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health and Associate Adjunct Professor, Environmental Health Sciences
  • Brenda Eskenazi, UC Berkeley Brian and Jennifer Maxwell Endowed Chair in Public Health and Director, CERCH (The Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health)
  • Bruce Lanphear, Simon Fraser University Professor of Health Sciences
  • Robin Whyatt, Former Professor of Clinical Environmental Health Sciences

Letter to EPA on proposed rule: Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science

Today more than 40 health experts voice their opposition to the EPA Proposed Rule, Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science, in a letter to the EPA. As scientists and health professionals we recognize the importance of data sharing and replicability in scientific practice and discourse; but, this proposed rule is about stifling science, not improving it, and could lead to the dismantling of many important EPA regulations that protect children from toxic chemicals and pollutants. We would welcome an open dialogue to improve science-based decisions across the federal government. But we stand united in firm opposition to this proposed rule. Read the full TENDR Letter.

Scientists & Health Professionals Letter to Senate Appropriations

Today, 115 scientists and health professionals sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee urging that they maintain or increase funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with an emphasis on standards and programs that protect the health of pregnant women and children. The letter was also signed by the American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists and the National Hispanic Medical Association.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on a budget recommendation for EPA on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017.

Scientists & Health Professionals Letter to Senate Appropriations (PDF)


October 16, 2017

RE: Budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Dear Chairman Cochran, Vice Chairman Leahy, and other members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations,

We write collectively as a group of scientists, clinicians, health professionals and children’s advocates, to express our strong support for EPA standards and programs that:

  1. Protect children’s and pregnant women’s health and
  2. Enable the EPA to carry out its mandate to protect communities from pesticides and toxic chemicals using the most current science and scientific practices.

The health of the public, especially those who are most vulnerable, depends on the EPA having enough resources to carry out the research, programs and processes described in more detail below. We urge you to support a budget for EPA that maintains or increases funding for these critical areas. Funds directed to EPA are a wise investment of taxpayer dollars that provides returns many times over in the form of healthy children, pregnant women, families and communities—the human resources who form the critical foundation of a thriving and growing economy.

1. EPA programs help protect children’s and pregnant women’s health from toxic chemicals in the air, water, home and other environments.

We support maintaining or increasing the allocation of funds to EPA’s Science To Achieve Results (STAR) programs for research on children’s and pregnant women’s health and effects of the environment. The STAR program engages some of the nation’s best scientists, researchers, and engineers through grants and graduate fellowships for research complementing EPA’s own intramural research program. This funding mechanism supports specialized research that is critical to inform science-­‐based policy-­‐ and decision-­‐making at the Agency that is not funded elsewhere.

We support maintaining or increasing the allocation of funds to programs to prevent lead poisoning and exposures to air pollutants and toxic chemicals in children and pregnant women and for environmental justice programs. As the ongoing Flint water crisis and recovery show, there is still a critical need to support these programs at the federal, state and local levels. Lead is a known neurotoxic chemical that has no safe exposure level, and yet children are still being exposed to this and many damaging chemicals around the nation. The Flint events also highlight that low-­‐income and communities of color bear disproportionate burdens of toxic chemical exposures; thus, continued funding for environmental justice programs and federal oversight are also needed.

We support maintaining or increasing the allocation of funds for local and state programs to monitor and improve the quality of the environment, which are vital to ensure healthy communities. For example, state and local air quality management, water pollution control, public water system supervision, Superfund, and brownfields programs are just a few of the many programs that are essential to ensure that the environment is free of dangerous levels of substances that could threaten children’s and pregnant women’s health. These programs have a proven track record of carrying out the activities necessary to provide cleaner air, water and environments for families; we are very concerned that reducing funding to these programs could reverse this progress and result in higher exposures to hazardous chemicals in the air, water, food, and household consumer products we encounter daily.

We support maintaining or increasing the allocation of funds for federal and state enforcement of statutes and regulations under EPA authority. Enforcement of environmental regulations is critical to protecting the health of pregnant women and children, and air and water quality from hazardous chemicals and pollutants. Enforcement ensures a level playing field, so corporations that violate the law do not gain an economic advantage over those corporations that act in accordance with regulations that protect public health and the environment.

We support funding to maintain or increase EPA’s total budget. EPA’s work under all of the major statutes has far-­‐reaching impacts on children’s and pregnant women’s environmental health. EPA’s workload is increasing, while its budgets have not kept pace. At minimum, EPA’s 2016 appropriations levels for funding and for staff (full-­‐time equivalent (FTE)) should be maintained.

2. EPA’s research and the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program are critical to evaluate pesticides and chemicals and protect the public from those that pose unreasonable risks.

We support funding to maintain or increase EPA’s research budget. The EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention is tasked with protecting Americans from risky pesticides, industrial, commercial and consumer product chemicals in their homes, workplaces and communities. Last year, Congress passed the Lautenberg Amendment reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act, which EPA is now implementing. The Agency has enormous statutory obligations and responsibility to protect families from dangerous chemicals; EPA’s total research budget should be realigned to reflect this.

We support fully funding the IRIS program. The IRIS program carries out independent assessments of chemicals, which are important resources for local, state and national authorities to use in decision making on hazardous chemicals, including informing regulations and clean-­‐up standards. As reported by EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board (September, 2017), the IRIS program incorporates a number of scientific best practices in their assessment process, including appropriate evaluation of study risk of bias (not numerical scoring of reporting quality); integrating primary toxicity information and health effects from animal and human studies, supported by mechanistic or other types of data; and using free and open source collaborative software to facilitate cross-­‐Agency collaborations, communication, and public transparency.1 Funding for the IRIS program is needed for EPA to move forward with chemical evaluations and make science-­‐based decisions as required by law.

We appreciate the opportunity to provide our input on appropriations for EPA. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions regarding these comments. The signers’ institutional affiliations below are included for identification purposes only and do not necessarily imply any institutional endorsement or support, unless indicated otherwise.


1 Memo from EPA Scientific Advisory Board to Administrator Pruitt, Sept 1, 2017. Science Advisory Board comments on EPA’s response to recommendations on the Integrated Risk Information System. https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/0/A9A9ACCE42B6AA0E8525818E004CC597/$File/EPA-­‐SAB-­‐17-­‐ 008.pdf

Sincerely,

Veena Singla, PhD, Director of Research Translation; Juleen Lam, PhD, Research Scientist; and Tracey Woodruff, PhD, Director
Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment University of California, San Francisco

Laura Anderko RN PhD
Professor & Robert and Kathleen Scanlon Endowed Chair in Values Based Healthcare School of Nursing & Health Studies, Georgetown University

Ann Aschengrau, ScD Professor of Epidemiology
Boston University School of Public Health

Kathy Attar, MPH
Toxics Program Manager Physicians for Social Responsibility

Edward Avol, MS
Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine University of Southern California

John Balmes, MD
Professor of Medicine, UCSF
Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley

Jacqueline M. Barkoski, MPH, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Public Health Sciences University of California, Davis

Naomi Bardach
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy University of California San Francisco

David C. Bellinger, PhD, MSc
Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Eugene B. Benson, JD
Adjunct Professor, City Planning and Urban Affairs, Boston University Metropolitan College Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Environmental Health
Boston University School of Public Health

Lisa Bero, PhD
Professor, University of Sydney
Adjunct Professor, University of California, San Francisco

Leslie I. Boden, PhD Professor
Boston University School of Public Health

Bruce Blumberg, PhD
Professor, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology University of California, Irvine

Asa Bradman, PhD, MS
Associate Director, Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health (CERCH) Associate Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health Sciences
School of Public Health, UC Berkeley

Phil Brown, PhD
University Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Health Sciences Northeastern University

Susan Buchanan, MD, MPH Associate Professor and Director
Great Lakes Center for Children’s Environmental Health University of Illinois at Chicago

Marie Angelique Cabiya, MD Physician
Advocate Medical Group

Carla Campbell, MD, MS, FAAP
Associate Professor of Public Health, MPH Program Director Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences University of Texas at El Paso

Adelita G. Cantu, PhD, RN Associate Professor
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

Courtney Carignan, PhD
Assistant Professor Michigan State University

Susan D. Chapnick
President & Principal Scientist New Environmental Horizons, Inc.

Aimin Chen, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Terrence J. Collins, Ph.D., Hon FRSNZ Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry Director, Institute for Green Science
Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University

Jeanne A Conry, MD PhD Past President
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
President and CEO, The Environmental Health Leadership Foundation

Carl F. Cranor, PhD, MSL
Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Faculty Member of Environmental Toxicology University of California, Riverside

Kathryn Crawford, MS Graduate Student
Boston University School of Public Health

Nathaniel G. DeNicola, MD, MSHP
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology George Washington University

Vice Chair of Telehealth Taskforce
American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists

Kristie Ellickson, PhD
Graduate Faculty, Environmental Health University of Minnesota

Brenda Eskenazi, PhD
Jennifer and Brian Maxwell Professor of Maternal and Child Health and Epidemiology Director, Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health (CERCH)
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley

Shohreh Farzan, PhD
Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California

Steven G. Gilbert, PhD, DABT Executive Director
Institute of Neurotoxicology & Neurological Disorders

Myron L. Gildesgame, PhD. Retired, Director and Chief Planner
Massachusetts Office of Water Resources

Barbara Gottlieb
Environment & Health Director Physicians for Social Responsibility Washington, DC

Robert M. Gould, MD
Associate Adjunct Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences University of California, San Francisco
President, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, Physicians for Social Responsibility

Mark E. Hahn, PhD
Senior Scientist, Biology Department Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Alycia Halladay, PhD
Chief Science Officer, Autism Science Foundation
Adjunct, Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Rutgers University

Kim Harley, MPH, PhD
Associate Adjunct Professor, Maternal and Child Health
Associate Director for Health Effects, Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health University of California, Berkeley

Dale Hattis, PhD Research Professor
The George Perkins Marsh Institute Clark University

Marissa Hauptman, MD, MPH Physician
Boston Children’s Hospital

Russ Hauser, MD
Professor of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Erin Haynes, DrPH, MS
Associate Professor of Environmental Health College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati

Wendy Heiger-­‐Bernays, PhD
Clinical Professor of Environmental Health Director, EH MPH Program and EHA Certificate Boston University School of Public Health

Amy Herring, ScD Professor
Duke University

Irva Hertz-­‐Picciotto, PhD
Director, Environmental Health Sciences Center, UC Davis
Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences and the MIND Institute University of California, Davis

Joan F. Hilton Professor
Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics University of California, San Francisco

Deborah Hirtz M.D.
Professor, Neurological Sciences and Pediatrics University of Vermont School of Medicine

Maeve Howett, PhD
Assistant Dean and Clinical Professor, College of Nursing University of Massachusetts Amherst

Katie Huffling, RN, MS, CNM Executive Director
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

H. Patricia Hynes, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Environmental Health Boston University School of Public Health

Dan Jaffe, PhD
Professor and Chair, Physical Sciences Division School of Science. Technology, Engineering and Math University of Washington

Doreen Karoll, MD
Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician

Clinical Instructor, Boston University Medical School
Patricia D. Koman, PhD, MPP President and Senior Scientist Green Barn Research Associates

Erica Koustas, PhD Scientific Consultant
University of California, San Francisco

Carol Kwiatkowski, PhD
Executive Director, The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) Assistant Professor Adjunct, North Carolina State University and University of Colorado, Boulder

Diana J. Laird, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences University of California, San Francisco

Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc, FAAP Dean for Global Health
Professor of Environmental Medicine, Public Health and Pediatrics Arnhold Institute for Global Health
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Bruce P. Lanphear, MD, MPH
Clinician Scientist, Child & Family Research Institute, BC Children’s Hospital Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC

Patricia Lasley
PEHSU Region 5 Coordinator University of Illinois, Chicago

Arthur Lavin, M.D. Advanced Pediatrics Cleveland, OH

Soo-­‐Jeong Lee Associate Professor
School of Nursing, University of California San Francisco

Jonathan Levy, ScD
Interim Chair and Professor Department of Environmental Health
Boston University School of Public Health

Patricia Janulewicz Lloyd, DSc Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Health Boston University School of Public Health

Peggy Lopipero-­‐Langmo, MPH Environmental Science Instructor City College of San Francisco

Jennifer Lowry, MD, FAAP Pediatrician and Toxicologist Kansas City, MO

Ulrike Luderer, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology University of California, Irvine

Kristen Malecki Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin, Madison

Emily Marquez, Ph.D. Staff Scientist
Pesticide Action Network

Andres Martinez, PhD Research engineer
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering The University of Iowa

Ethan Mascoop, MPH
Boston University School of Public Health

Rob McConnell, MD
Professor of Preventive Medicine University of Southern California

Jennifer McPartland, PhD
Senior Scientist, Health Program Environmental Defense Fund

Catherine Metayer, MD, PhD
Faculty, School of Public Health University of California, Berkeley

David Michaels, PhD, MPH
Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Milken Institute School of Public Health
The George Washington University

Mark Miller MD, MPH Assistant Clinical Professor
University of California, San Francisco

Pamela Miller
Executive Director, Alaska Community Action on Toxics Anchorage, AK

Mark A. Mitchell M.D., MPH, FACPM
Chair, National Medical Association Council on Medical Legislation
Co-­‐Chair, National Medical Association Commission on Environmental Health

Stefano Monti, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine and Biostatistics Boston University, Boston, MA

Rachel Morello-­‐Frosch, PhD, MPH Professor, School of Public Health University of California, Berkeley

Raymond Neutra, DrPH, MPH
Principal, Raymond Richard Neutra Consultants

Thomas B. Newman, MD, MPH
Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Pediatrics, School of Medicine University of California, San Francisco

Peter Orris, MD, MPH
Professor and Chief, Occupational & Environmental Medicine University of Illinois Hospital and Health Science System

David Ozonoff, MD, MPH Professor of Environmental Health
Boston University School of Public Health

Vasantha Padmanabhan, MS, PhD
Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Molecular and Integrative Physiology and Environmental Health Sciences
University of Michigan

Heather Patisaul, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences NC State University

Katherine Pelch PhD Senior Scientist
The Endocrine Disruption Exchange

Frederica P. Perera, DrPH, PhD Professor of Public Health
Director, Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health Dept. of Environmental Health Sciences
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

Elena Rios, MD, MSPH, FACP President & CEO
National Hispanic Medical Association

Beate Ritz MD, PhD Professor of Epidemiology
Center for Occupational and Environmental Health FSPH, UCLA

Joshua F. Robinson Assistant Professor
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences University of California, San Francisco

Melissa Rose, MPH Program Manager
Environmental Health Sciences Center Center for Children’s Environmental Health University of California, Davis

Nancy C. Rothman, Ph.D.
CEO & Principal Scientist
New Environmental Horizons, Inc.

Leslie Rubin, MD Physician
Break the Cycle of Health Disparities, Inc

Ruthann Rudel, MS Director of Research Silent Spring Institute

Madeleine K. Scammell, DSc
Associate Professor of Environmental Health Boston University School of Public Health

Susan L. Schantz, PhD
Professor of Toxicology and Neuroscience, Illinois Children’s Environmental Health Research Center Director, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
University of Illinois, Urbana-­‐Champaign

Ted Schettler MD, MPH Science DirectorScience and Environmental Health Network

Perry Sheffield, MD, MPH Assistant Professor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

David Sherr, Ph.D.
Professor
Boston University

Gordon J. Strewler, MD Professor of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco

Patrice Sutton, MPH Research Scientist
Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment University of California, San Francisco

Maureen Swanson, MPA Director, Healthy Children Project
Co-­‐Director, Project TENDR (Targeting Environmental Neuro-­‐Developmental Risks) Learning Disabilities Association of America

Evelyn O. Talbott, DrPH, MPH Professsor, Dept of Epidemiology University of Pittsburgh

Tanya Khemet Taiwo, MPH PhDc. Dept. of Epidemiology
University of California, Davis

Ho Luong Tran, MD, MPH President & CEO
National Council of Asian Pacific Islander Physicians

Laura N Vandenberg Assistant Professor
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Ondine von Ehrenstein, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences Fielding School of Public Health
University of California, Los Angeles

Aolin Wang, PhD Postdoctoral Scholar
Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment University of California, San Francisco

Thomas Webster, DSc
Professor, Dept. of Environmental Health Boston University School of Public Health

Robin M. Whyatt, DrPH Professor Emeritus
Department of Environmental Health Sciences Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

Lauren Zajac, MD, MPH, FAAP Pediatrician, Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Marya Zlatnik, MD, MMS
Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences University of California, San Francisco

R. Thomas Zoeller, Professor Biology Department
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Ami R. Zota, ScD, MS
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Milken Institute School of Public Health
George Washington University

Medical Associations

American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists

National Council of Asian Pacific Islander Physician National Hispanic Medical Association


 

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