Thiomersal (INN), or thimerosal, also sold under the name merthiolate is an organomercury compound. It is a well-established antiseptic and antifungal agent.
Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertility, and tingling in the hands and feet. It causes almost 10% of intellectual disability of otherwise unknown cause and can result in behavioral problems. Some of the effects are permanent. In severe cases, anemia, seizures, coma, or death may occur.
Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called passive smoke, secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by individuals other than the active smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke diffuses into the surrounding atmosphere as an aerosol pollutant, which leads to its inhalation by nearby bystanders within the same environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes many of the same health effects caused by active smoking, although at a lower prevalence due to the reduced concentration of smoke that enters the airway.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It supports and conducts research aimed at improving the health of children, adults, families, and communities, including:
The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), now known as UR Medicine, is located in Rochester, New York, is a medical complex on the main campus of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, research and patient care facilities.
Blood lead level (BLL), is a measure of the amount of lead in the blood. Lead is a toxic heavy metal and can cause neurological damage, especially among children, at any detectable level. High lead levels cause decreased vitamin D and haemoglobin synthesis as well as anemia, acute central nervous system disorders, and possibly death.
Concerns about thiomersal and vaccines are commonly expressed by anti-vaccine activists. Claims relating to the safety of thiomersal, a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines, are refuted, but still subject to fearmongering, notably claims it could cause neurological disorders such as autism, leading to its removal from most vaccines in the US childhood schedule. This had no effect on the rates of diagnosis of pervasive developmental defects, including autism. Extensive scientific research shows no credible evidence linking thiomersal to such conditions.
Herbert Leroy Needleman researched the neurodevelopmental damage caused by lead poisoning. He was a pediatrician, child psychiatrist, researcher and professor at the University of Pittsburgh, an elected member of the Institute of Medicine, and the founder of the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. Dr. Needleman played a key role in securing some of the most significant environmental health protections achieved during the 20th century, which resulted in a fivefold reduction in the prevalence of lead poisoning among children in the United States by the early 1990s. Despite engendering strong resistance from lead-related industries, which made him the target of frequent attacks, Needleman persisted in campaigning to educate stakeholders, including parents and government panels, about the dangers of lead poisoning. Needleman has been credited with having played a key role in triggering environmental safety measures that have reduced average blood lead levels by an estimated 78 percent between 1976 and 1991. He died in Pittsburgh in 2017.
Philip John Landrigan, is an American epidemiologist and pediatrician. He has campaigned against substances in the environment that are harmful to children, such as lead and asbestos. He is also concerned with environmental pesticides.
Edwin Trevathan, an American child neurologist, pediatrician, epidemiologist, is the Amos Christie Chair in Global Health, Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology and Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He previously served as executive vice president and provost at Baylor University, following his work at the Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice, where he was dean and professor of epidemiology, pediatrics, and neurology. Previously he was director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. Before joining CDC in 2007, Trevathan was professor of neurology and pediatrics, as well as director of the Division of Pediatric & Developmental Neurology, at Washington University School of Medicine and was neurologist-in-chief at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
In analytical chemistry, biomonitoring is the measurement of the body burden of toxic chemical compounds, elements, or their metabolites, in biological substances. Often, these measurements are done in blood and urine. Biomonitoring is performed in both environmental health, and in occupational safety and health as a means of exposure assessment and workplace health surveillance.
Tobacco smoking during pregnancy causes many detrimental effects on health and reproduction, in addition to the general health effects of tobacco. A number of studies have shown that tobacco use is a significant factor in miscarriages among pregnant smokers, and that it contributes to a number of other threats to the health of the foetus.
Carol Remmer Angle is an American pediatrician, nephrologist, and toxicologist. Angle is known as one of the nation's leading researchers on lead poisoning. She is professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha, Nebraska. Angle joined UNMC in 1954 and was one of the first women to serve as chair of an academic medical department (pediatrics). She also served as chief of pediatric nephrology, director of the pediatric intensive care unit, and director of medical toxicology. In 1957, Angle along with Dr. Matilda McIntire, founded one of the country's first poison control centers. Angle is a founding member and a prior president of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. For forty years, Angle served as an expert for NIEHS, National Institutes of Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency panels investigating heavy metal toxicity. Angle continues as a toxicology consultant, reviewer and editor.
Childhood cancer is cancer in a child. About 80% of childhood cancer cases in high-income countries can be successfully treated via modern medical treatments and optimal patient care. However, only about 10% of children diagnosed with cancer reside in high-income countries where the necessary treatments and care is available. Childhood cancer represents only about 1% of all types of cancers diagnosed in children and adults, but it is often more complex than adult cancers with unique biological characteristics. Its research and treatment is very challenging and limited. For this reason, in countries that are low- and mid-income, childhood cancer is often ignored in control planning, contributing to the burden of missed opportunities for its diagnoses and management.
Frank DeStefano FACPM is a medical epidemiologist and researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he is director of the Immunization Safety Office.
Nadine Burke Harris is a Canadian-American pediatrician who was the Surgeon General of California between 2019 and 2022; she is the first person appointed to that position. She is known for linking adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress with harmful effects to health later in life. Hailed as a pioneer in the treatment of toxic stress, she is an advisory council member for the Clinton Foundation's "Too Small to Fail" campaign, and the founder and former chief executive officer of the Center for Youth Wellness. Her work was also featured in Paul Tough's book How Children Succeed.
Kari C. Nadeau is the Chair of the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard School of Public Health and John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies. She is adjunct professor at Stanford University in the Department of Pediatrics and the co-chair of the Medical Societies Consortium for Climate Change and Health. She practices Allergy, Asthma, Immunology in children and adults. She has published over 400+ papers, many in the field of climate change and health. Her team focuses on quantifying health outcomes of solutions as they pertain climate change mitigation and adaptation at the local, regional, country, and global levels. Dr. Nadeau, with a team of individuals and patients and families, has been able to help major progress and impact in the clinical fields of immunology, infection, asthma, and allergy. Dr. Nadeau is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the U.S. EPA Children’s Health Protection Committee.
Mona Hanna, formerly known as Mona Hanna-Attisha, is a pediatrician, professor, and public health advocate whose research exposed the Flint water crisis. She is the author of the 2018 book What the Eyes Don't See, which The New York Times named as one of the 100 most notable books of the year.
Tanya Elizabeth Froehlich is an American pediatrician. She is an associate professor of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Froehlich's research focus is to help doctors properly prescribe ADHD medication for children and focus on how marginalized and disadvantaged youth deal with ADHD compared to their wealthier companions.
Prasanna Nair is an Indian-born doctor working in the United States. She works in primary health care with a specialty in pediatric endocrinology.
