Children's Health and the Environment (graduate level)

3 credits

This course will provide students with fundamental understanding of the powerful influence of the environment on health and disease in children. It will enable students to understand why children are uniquely sensitive to toxic chemicals and other environmental hazards and how toxic exposures in early life can influence risk of disease across the life span. It will familiarize students with the major environmental hazards of our time, including lead, mercury, pesticides, and air pollution as well as with the links between the built environment, climate change, and children's health. Using case studies, it will explore the linkages between children's environmental health and social justice. It will conclude with a discussion of options and strategies for translating science to public policy to prevent diseases of environmental origin in children.