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Children's Environmental Health Network

© Kenneth Friedman

The Children's Environmental Health Network (CEHN) is a super site. There are plenty of resources here if you have concerns about environmental health. You'll come back to this site as a reference so bookmark it when you visit.

The CEHN explains itself as "a national multidisciplinary project dedicated to promoting a healthy environment and to protecting the fetus and the child from environmental hazards." Although the site is designed for medical and related health professionals, it is also a resource for anyone interested in environmental health and is presented at a level that anyone can understand. A lot of work has gone into this site and it will get even better as it grows from contributions submitted by participants and others.

CEHN's self-proclaimed purpose is to "promote the development of sound public health and child-focused national policy, to stimulate prevention-oriented research, to educate health professionals, policy makers and community members in preventive strategies, and to elevate public awareness of environmental hazards to children."

CEHN has organized its web site as a Resource Guide "to help people locate organizations and data sources," such as information on childhood cancer, pesticides, air quality, projects, initiatives and work occuring in the children's environmental health field, organizations active in children's environmental health, data on child health and environmental hazards, and a Glossary of children's environmental health terms.

The site's list of organizations active in the field of children's environmental health is a good place to start to look for organizations. It would take quite some time to look up every one that is listed so this isn't a place to search randomly.

Data sources links provides one-stop shopping for bibliographic databases for locating journal articles, books, reports, and research; summary databases for locating information on chemicals, consumer products and superfund sites; surveys for locating information on child health status, nutrition and activity patterns; statistical compilations for locating information on child health status, nutrition and activity patterns; hotlines, directories and Internet sites.

One of the more unusual efforts at categorizing has produced a breakdown of links by target audiences that CEHN's Resource Guide is geared to serve. If you as a site user fall into one or more audience categories, you can click your link to reach a list of "organizations and data sources that are geared to working with that audience." The audiences that begin with "P," for example, include Parents/Parent Groups, Pediatric Faculty, Policy Makers, Professionals, and Public Housing Tenants. The lists of links are extensive.