About Us

The Children's Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) has been established to identify, validate, and develop solutions to address adverse health effects to children occurring as a consequence of exposure to hazardous environmental substances.

The Children's Environmental Health Institute
P.O. Box 50342
Austin, Texas 78763-0342
Phone: 512-657-7405

Janie D. Fields, Executive Director
Email: janie.fields@cehi.org

Goal
The goal of the Children's Environmental Health Institute is to identify, develop, and promote solutions to improve children's environmental health through scientific research, environmental education, and public policy.

Objectives

• Research
  We develop solutions by conducting scientific research to identify hazardous toxins and determine their biomedical effects. Develop innovative products to improve children's long term health in their environment.

• Education
  Our purpose is to increase the public's understanding of children's unique environmental health risks by making critical information and innovative solutions more accessible to the public.

• Policy
  We strive to promote the development of solutions through policy which accurately assesses and manages micro environmental health risks to children.

• The long-term health of our children is our most important asset and requires investment in the development of policy, research, and education for our nation's prosperity. the health of children should be the country's top priority. Healthy children without harmful substance residues in their bodies will grow into healthy adults.

• Environmental hazards and pollution know no physical boundaries. The health of the world's children is intrinsically linked to the health of our environment. Strategic collaboration must be sought and encouraged whenever possible.

• Solutions to complex environmental health problems require the on-going communication and collaboration of affected communities and many disciplines including science, medicine, public health, economics, planning, and public policy. Creative solutions can be reached through interdisciplinary scientific problem-solving and private-public sector coalition building.

Children's complex environmental problems require unique and ongoing communication and collaboration of many of the same disciplines concerned with macro-environmental issues such as science, medicine, public health, economics, planning, and public policy. However, their focus on the micro-environment will require the development of new technology and public-private sector initiatives in children's health.

All persons have a right to health, including a safe environment and protection from exposures that may undermine their health. For infants and children, who cannot act on their own behalf, a special obligation is incurred.

• Vulnerability of Children
  Children are more vulnerable than adults to environmental exposures. Children, beginning at the fetal stage and continuing through adolescence, are physiologically very different from adults. They are in a dynamic state of growth, with cells multiplying and organ systems developing at a rapid rate. At birth their nervous, respiratory, reproductive, and immune systems are not yet fully developed. Our understanding of children's vulnerability to toxic substances in complicated because the degree of vulnerability varies with age and developmental stage.
  
  Young children breathe more rapidly and take in more air in proportion to their body weight than do adults. They also have higher metabolic rates and a higher proportionate intake of food and liquid than do adults. The average infant's daily consumption of six ounces of liquid per kilogram of body weight is equivalent to an adult male drinking 50 eight-ounce glasses of liquid a day.
  
  Exposure to risks for children are substantially different than for adults. At the present time, most food sampling for pesticide contaminants in the United States focuses almost exclusively on the diets of adults. In addition, children are growing and making cells and toxicants can become incorporated into their cells; whereas adults are usually loosing cells. Research and public education should be viewed within that context.

• Critical Issues
  Children are exposed to a variety of environmental hazards, including indoor and outdoor air pollution, solvents, pesticides, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals. These contribute to certain childhood diseases, such as asthma and leukemia, and to some learning disabilities. The impact of increased exposure to adverse environmental factors must be considered as a contributor to the observed increase in health problems.

• Prevention
  The key to protection is prevention. Recently, children's environmental health issues have been recognized by Congress and federal agencies. In November 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report, "Environmental Health Threats to Children", and announced that for the first time children would be considered in all EPA risk-assessment and standard-setting procedures. Congress passed the Food Quality Protection Act in September 1996, which specifically focuses on setting standards to protect children from pesticide residues and other hazards in foods.

Board of Directors

• Fernando Guerra, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., Board Chair, Director, San Antonio Metropolitan Health District
• Bill Shelton, M.D., Board Vice Chair, Radiologist / Oncologist
• Janice Godwin, B.A., Board Secretary, President, Special Audience Marketing
• Kirby C. Donnelly, Ph.D., Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University
• Martin Lorin, M.D., Professor, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital
• Kenneth Olden, Ph.D., Sc.D., L.H.D., Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Director, National Toxicology Program
• Kate Stalzer, B.S.N., R.N., Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas
• Vince Torres, P.E., Texas Institute for the Indoor Environment, The University of Texas at Austin
• Mike Wells, AIA, ROFDW Architects Principal
• Phil Strickland, J.D., Founder and Chair, Texans Care for Children (Emeritus)

The Children's Environmental Health Institute provides leadership through dedicated, caring, and experienced professional staff with a strong desire to succeed in the organization's mission.

Executive Director Janie D. Fields holds a Masters in Public Administration. Ms. Fields served for fourteen years as the Executive Director of the Children's Trust Fund of Texas and as a past President of the National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds. Fields has extensive background experience in public administration and policy development.

America's volunteer spirit is a matter of history. The time-honored tradition of neighbor helping neighbor is the foundation upon which this country was built. Volunteer support is the cornerstone of the Children's Environmental Health Institute. Current positions are posted on www.volunteermatch.org

Our Sponsors

CEHI wishes to express its gratitude to the following organizations for their support and encouragement of our initiatives to protect children:

• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• Physicians for Social Responsibility
• Centers for Disease Control
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Texas Medical Association
• Texas Medical Association Foundation
• Lower Colorado River Authority
• The Public Center for Environmental Health
• Cielo Wind Power
• The RGK Foundation
• Special Audience Marketing

The Children's Environmental Health Institute hopes you will accept the invitation to support its unique mission which will address the common problems confronting the future generations of the environment.

MISSION