Citation

Woolf AD, Baum CR, Burns M. J. Med. Toxicol. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s13181-023-00942-6

PMID

36988816

Abstract

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Pediatric Environmental Health Special Units (PEHSUs) program, created by the ATSDR and EPA in 1998 subsequent to President Bill Clinton's Executive Order 13045 [1]. It is now a collection of 10 regional PEHSUs forming a robust national network. This year also marks the 70th year anniversary of the founding of the poison centers (PCs) in Chicago, Illinois, in 1953 [2]. There is now a cohesive network of 55 regional PCs in the USA [3].

These two national networks have largely operated independent of each other, with distinctly different missions but overlapping audiences. PEHSUs address clinical issues associated with environmental toxic hazards involving infants and children by offering clinical consultations, advanced training opportunities, and educational outreach efforts to the public, healthcare professionals, public health officials, and communities. In recent years, PEHSUs have expanded their scope of services to include issues in reproductive environmental health, the promotion of environmental justice for disadvantaged communities, and education around health consequences related to climate change.

PCs have always been the primary source of clinical toxicology expertise for both the public and healthcare providers. The majority of their consultations involve people suffering from the acute effects of toxic exposures and poisonings, both unintentional and intentional, and their emergent medical needs. PCs have also been dedicated to primary and secondary prevention of poisonings -- offering educational outreach to the public and healthcare practitioners, as well as advanced training opportunities in toxicology to healthcare professionals.

Language: en

Keywords

Environmental health; Pediatric environmental toxicology; PEHSU; Poison center