Oral

The purpose of this session is to discuss recent advances in the intersection of environmental health and maternal/child health. It is relevant because fetuses, children, and pregnant women may be far more susceptible to certain environmental hazards than the general population. We will start with describing recent trends in exposure of children and pregnant women to computed tomography (CT) scans. This is relevant since ionizing radiation from a pediatric CT scan is equivalent to 150-250 chest x-rays. Doses of ionizing radiation will also be compared with natural background levels. Two talks describe associations between environment and reproductive outcomes. One will be the first study to measure the association between modeled environmental levels of hazardous air pollutants (e.g. benzene and 1,3-butadiene) and selected birth defects. The second presents a novel Environmental Quality Index to account for multiple ambient environmental conditions simultaneously, and how that is related to infant mortality in United States counties. We wrap up with a talk addressing what to do once we've identified that something negatively impacts maternal/child health. It will describe challenges and opportunities of implementing new lead and pregnancy guidelines at the state level using existing resources. This is particularly relevant given recent cutbacks in public health funding at all government levels.

Session Objectives: Describe temporal trends in hospital and emergency department utilization of CT use among children. Explain how infant mortality is associated with environmental quality and by environmental domain. Demonstrate challenges and opportunities of implementing new lead and pregnancy guidelines, through a collaborative work group and utilizing existing agency resources.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)