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Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
1825 Century Blvd
Atlanta, GA 30345
 		 Phone: (404) 498-0110
Fax: (404) 498-0083
URL: http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov :8080/c hild

 

Mission Statement

  
The mission of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is to prevent exposure and adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life associated with exposure to hazardous substances from waste sites, unplanned releases, and other sources of pollution present in the environment. ATSDR is an operating division of the US Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR divides its activities between those that relate to a particular site and those that relate to a specific hazardous substance. Site-specific activities include public health assessments at hazardous waste sites, and health studies and exposure investigations in communities located near such sites.
  • Geographic focus: national
  • No membership
  • Other organizational activities (not directed specifically toward children): grantmaking, medical management of acute toxicity, medical referrals to environmental speciality centers, organizing, social services
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    Children's Environmental Health Activities

    		  
    ATSDR has long advocated a comprehensive approach to promoting the environmental health of children, and launched a Child Health Initiative in 1996. The Child Health Initiative addresses the special vulnerability of children to toxic substances emitted from hazardous waste sites and is intended to: (1) promote child health practices in all of the Agency's programs and activities; (2) identify opportunities for new projects that benefit infants, children and youth; and (3) solicit input and disseminate information through a network of extramural partnerships. ATSDR's external Board of Scientific Counselors has appointed a Child Health Workgroup, composed of nationally-recognized experts in various fields, that provides guidance and oversight of Agency activities, monitors progress and proposes further actions.

    ATSDR has accumulated important information-in both completed and ongoing projects-that documents the special characteristics of children that make them a vulnerable segment of the population: their unique ability to get external doses of site contaminants; their particular toxicokinetics and end-organ susceptibilities; and their utter dependence on others to separate them from hazards. The Agency seeks to reexamine that information from the standpoint of child health issues, develop child-specific components within existing programs, and plan new projects that will add to the scientific and programmatic knowledge base regarding child health and hazardous waste.

    ATSDR has formed partnerships with non-governmental organizations to form a closer association between the child health specialties and the environmental professions; for example, helping child health advocates learn environmental science and helping environmental scientists learn child health. Partner organizations receive progress reports as the Child Health Initiative proceeds. ATSDR invites partners to submit contributions to these reports, suggest special areas of emphasis, identify important gaps, and propose additional actions.
     

    Please note: the information presented above was provided and reviewed for accuracy by Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and was not verified independently by the Children's Environmental Health Network.
    Publication date: 5/5/99
    Updated: 7/27/2006

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