Preventing Exposures through the Safe Siting of Child Care Facilities: An ATSDR Initiative

In July 2006, child care officials in New Jersey closed down Kiddie Kollege Day Care Center in Franklinville, New Jersey after environmental sampling levels confirmed that there were elevated levels of mercury vapor in the day care center. For two years, community members brought their children to be cared for at Kiddie Kollege, unaware that the facility previously house a mercury thermometer factory.  This is just one example of many where ATSDR has identified risks to children because of environmental hazards at child care centers.

Unlike with schools, child care and early learning facilities can operate in a large range of  settings, including office buildings, strip malls, homes, and religious buildings. Child care operators may be unaware of nearby or internal potential causes for exposure such as site contamination, hazardous waste sites, nearby emission sources, or air and water quality issues.

Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Screening Assessment for Environmental Risk (SAFER) Program, a non-regulatory approach to determine whether a child care center may be impacted by environmental contamination.  Building off the success of the SAFER Program and working with a broad range of interdisciplinary partners, ATSDR has begun developing guidance and resources for state and local officials, child care operators, and other partners on issues related to the siting of child care facilities. ATSDR’s safe siting initiative will help ensure that child care and early learning facilities are located in areas where chemical and physical hazards have been considered, addressed, and mitigated to best protect children’s health.