Physicians Earned 15.5 hours of AMA PRA Category 1 credit, including 1 hour of ethics for attending.

2002 Biennial Scientific Symposium on Children's Health as Impacted by Environmental Contaminants

Conducted November 1-2, 2002

United States Air Force
School of Aerospace Medicine
Brooks City Base,
San Antonio, Texas

Purpose of the Conference

CEHI board members from left to right: Vice Chair Bill Shelton, MD of Lufkin; Robert Carpenter, DVM, MS of Bastrop; Chair Fernando Guerra, MD, MPH of San Antonio; and Janie D. Fields, Executive Director. The photo was taken at the symposium location, School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks City Base in San Antonio.

The symposium provided physicians the latest information needed to understand, recognize, and prevent children's exposure to environmental toxicants. The symposium addressed trends, exemplary projects and current research in developmental effects, asthma and respiratory diseases, endocrine disrupters, childhood cancer, biological and chemical terrorism and ethics in environmental health issues. Participants were provided with an overview of a Nationwide Environmental Public Health Tracking Network that will document links between environmental toxins and chronic diseases.

Accreditation

The activity was planned and implemented with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of Texas Medical Association and the Children's Environmental Health Institute. The Texas Medical Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Hour Designation

The Texas Medical Association designated this educational activity for a maximum of 15.5 hours credit in category 1 toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Each physician claimed only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the activity. The Texas Medical association designated the topic "Ethics in Environmental Health Issues" for 1 hour of ethics and/or professional responsibility education.

Participants were able to discuss and advise parents regarding:

• The unique vulnerability of infants and children to environmental toxicants.

• The role of indoor and outdoor air pollutants in causing respiratory and other diseases in infants and children.

• The role of water pollutants in causing diseases in infants and children.

• The role of pollutants and contaminants in the food chain in causing respiratory and other diseases in infants and children.

Participants were able to discuss:

• The current state of chronic disease surveillance as it relates to environmental exposure.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Congressional mandate to address environmental health gaps and how it may impact physicians.

• The recent trends in the incidence of cancer as related to exposure to environmental toxicants in utero or during childhood.

• New systematic approaches to screening for developmental and learning disabilities in clinical settings, and for potential neurodevelopmental toxicants resulting from environmental exposures.

• The real and potential risks of exposure to environmental endocrine disrupters and their effects during infant and child development.

Participants were able to recognize and respond to:

• Potential environmental toxicants.

• Biological and chemical terrorism threats to children.

• A system that can document possible links between environmental hazards and chronic diseases the same way that infectious diseases are identified and tracked.

Target Audience

The primary target audience included clinical and academic physicians who:

• Are concerned about the increasing number of patients who are diagnosed with diseases linked to environmental exposures during childhood or in utero.
• Want to increase their knowledge of the latest medical research concerning childhood exposure to environmental toxins.
• Seek to better inform their patients about environmentally related diseases and how they may be prevented.
• Are interested in increasing educational information for medical students on childhood exposure to environmental contaminants.

Time & Place

The symposium took place at the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks City Base (formerly Brooks Air Force Base), in San Antonio, Texas. The address is 2602 Louis Bauer Drive, Brooks AFB, TX 78235-5252, phone (210) 536-1110. The symposium began at 8:30 a.m. Friday, November 1, and ended 5 p.m. Saturday, November 2.

Speakers

• Rob Amler, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

• Adam Antwine, Chief, Air Force Base Conversion Agency

• Sophie J. Balk, MD, Pediatric Academic Associates, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

• Ronald Blanck, DO, President, University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth

• Melissa Bondy, PhD, Professor, Epidemiology, MD Anderson Cancer Center

• Kenneth L. Cox, Lt Col, USAF, MC, SFS, Brooks Air Force Base

• W. Randolph Daley, DVM, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health

• Allen Dearry, PhD, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

• Kirby C. Donnelly, PhD, Department of Veterinary Anatomy & Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University

• Michael L. Fischer, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

• Lynn Goldman, MD, MPH, Department of Environment Health Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

• Fernando Guerra, MD, MPH, Director, San Antonio Metropolitan Health District

• Alex Hathaway, MD, MPH, FACPM, Public Health Authority and Medical Director for Tarrant County

• Laura Rasar King, MPH, CHES, Outreach Director, Environment and Health Program, Physicians for Social Responsibility

• Woodie Kessel, MD, MPH, Senior Child Health Advisor, Office of the Secretary, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

• Martin Lorin, MD, Director of Medical Education, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine

• Claudia Miller, MD, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio

• Laura Mitchell, PhD, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University Health Science Center

• Eduardo Sanchez, MD, Commissioner, Texas Department of Health

• Vince Torres, PE, Texas Institute for the Indoor Environment, The University of Texas at Austin

• Mike Wells, AIA, Urban Planner for Children's Spaces, Principal, ROFDW Architects, Dallas, TX

• Jim Wild, PhD, Professor Biochemistry, Genetics, and Toxicology, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University

• The Honorable Nelson W. Wolff, JD, Bexar County Judge

• Pamela R. Wood, MD, Professor, Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

• Lovell A. Jones, PhD Professor, Gynecologic Oncology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Director, Experimental Gynecology/Endocrinology Head, Cancer Nutrition Research Group Director, Center for Research on Minority Health U.T. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

• Evelyn Daniels, MPA, Regional Children's Environmental Health Coordinator, Region VI Environmental Protection Agency

For More Information...

For more information about the symposium, contact Janie D. Fields, Executive Director at 512.657.7405 or e-mail , Director of Education.