Improving environments in early childhood education (ECE) facilities in low-income Latino communities in California: An environmental health training program

Thirteen million children in the United Sates, and 900,000 California children, spend some portion of their day in ECE facilities. Recent surveys have documented use of pesticides and other household chemicals in ECE facilities and contamination by pesticides, persistent organochlorine compounds, mold, and other unhealthy substances. Low-income Latino communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards that adversely affect their health. Young children are particularly vulnerable to these exposures because they are still developing. Because many infants and young children in low-income Latino communities spend as much as 10 hours every day in childcare and preschool, training childcare providers is an effective way of improving environmental health for this population. The UC Berkeley Center for Children's Environmental Health Research and the UCSF California Childcare Health Program have developed bilingual workshops on a variety of environmental health topics, including lead, cleaners and disinfectants, pesticides, integrated pest management, air quality, mercury, and emerging pollutants. The goal of the training is to raise awareness and provide low-cost strategies to reduce exposures to children in ECE settings. The workshop has been presented at state meetings for the California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC), the California Childcare Referral and Resource Network, and local providers in Monterey and Alameda counties. Long-term objectives include the development of educational curricula and model environmental health policies to protect children in ECE environments. This presentation will describe our training program and plans for future research and outreach and education.