Join us for this month's webinar. The webinar features presentations and interactive discussions including recent findings and new developments in children’s environmental health.

Topic: Is Our Food Safe from Chemical Exposures?

Children are exposed to contaminants in food that may affect their health and development. This session will focus on some specific contaminants that are of increasing concern to scientists, policy makers and communities. The goals of this session include: Provide an overview of what is known about the presence of arsenic and pesticides in food, current regulatory initiatives and risk communication challenges; Present the state of the science of children’s health and food exposure to pesticides, BPA and arsenic; Stimulate audience questions and discussion with the presenters.

Featured Speakers:

Brenda Eskenazi
University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Title: Pesticides and Children: State-of-the-Science of Exposure Assessment and Health Effects
Presentation Summary: This presentation will focus on trends in pesticide use in agriculture and the levels of exposures to various pesticides in pregnant women and children. We will briefly review some of the recent evidence on health effects in children of these pesticides.

Lesliam Quirós-Alcalá
University of California, Berkeley
Presentation Title: BPA and Children's Health: Updates on Food Packaging Exposure and Health Effects
Presentation Summary: BPA has been found in plastics and food can liners. This presentation will discuss human exposure to BPA and the potential health effects that have been described in children.

Kathryn Cottingham
Dartmouth College
Presentation Title: Arsenic in Food and Water: Exposure Assessment and Children’s Health Effects Research
Presentation Summary: Relatively little is known about the possible effects of low-level arsenic exposure, especially during childhood, via food and water. This presentation will summarize exposure estimates for the New Hampshire Birth Cohort and describe plans to assess potential health effects in this population.

Michael Crupain
Food Safety and Sustainability Center, Consumer Reports

Urvashi Rangan
Food Safety and Sustainability Center, Consumer Reports

Presentation Title: Improving Food Safety Through Strategic Science, Communication, and Advocacy
Presentation Summary: Consuming foods contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides, and other chemicals like BPA can increase health risks. This presentation will focus on how scientists can engage policy makers and the public in order to help reduce exposure.