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Paediatric Environmental Health Resources for Patients and Clinicians
- Pediatric environmental history: World Health Organization
- The World Health Organization (WHO) green page is a pediatric environmental history (PEH). Health care providers can use this tool to understand relevant environmental risk factors faced by their pediatric patients. The PEH can be adapted to focus on information relevant to each patient.
- PEHSU fact sheets
- The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU) is a US-based international group that provides information for healthcare providers, researchers, and the general public. A useful clinical resource is fact sheets outlining specific risk factors and presenting treatment recommendations for various environmental health risks.
- Includes a fact sheet on formaldehyde exposure
- Mold: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a comprehensive and approachable outline of information on mold including health impacts, management, and treatment recommendations following exposure. The website can be used to enhance patient understanding and a resource for environmental health research.
- The CDC website also includes information on COVID-19, Adolescent and School Health, Natural Disasters and Severe Weather, and more.
Information on lead exposure
- Lead toxicity with a new focus: Addressing low-level lead exposure in Canadian children
- This comprehensive practice point from the Canadian Paediatric Society outlines potential environmental lead exposure sources that may affect children as well as specific risk factors associated with living environments, laboratory testing, and recommendations for management of children with elevated lead levels.
- Caring for Kids New to Canada: Lead Toxicity
- This source outlines the increased concern for lead exposure in young newcomers to Canada and certain risk factors and sources for environmental lead exposure, typical clinical presentations, screening, management, and prevention strategies for lead toxicity.
Information for patients and families
- Children’s Environmental Health Clinic: University of Alberta
- The Children’s Environmental Health Clinic (ChEHC) provides information for health care professionals and the general public on environmental topics. Fact sheets are geared to patients.
- A heat exposure fact sheet is here. Additional information is available on the CDC Heat Warning Page
- Wildfire and smoke resources: Environment Canada
- Information about wildfire smoke including the mechanism of exposure and populations at greater risk of smoke exposure effects
- Describes symptoms of smoke exposure and how an individual can protect themselves during a wildfire
- Asthma information and action plans: University of Calgary
- Basic information on asthma, including signs and symptoms.
- Provides a link to a checklist to help parents identify if their child has asthma.
- Includes an asthma action plan, common medical devices used for asthma, and additional helpful videos for parents
- COVID, cleaning agents and child health
- Describes cleaning agents used to disinfect objects and surfaces, including types of disinfecting cleaning agents, associated risks with using each product, and effectiveness against COVID-19 and other pathogens
Our thanks to Patrick Hicks (University of Alberta), Caseng Zhang (McMaster University), Kaden Lam (University of Calgary), and Dr. Anne Hicks, Assistant Professor, Pediatric Respiratory Medicine at University of Alberta, for compiling this list.
Last updated: Jan 15, 2024