Dear Maricela,

Back-to-school season is here, and MOMS Clean Air FORCE, a member of CCCEH's Community Advisory and Stakeholder Board (CASB), is taking a stand on the rising heat in classrooms.

Extensive studies carried out by the Center and Dr. Perera's book have honed in on the critical issue of climate change and its profound effects on children.

Ahead of the new school year, dive into the latest featured article at MOMS Clean Air Force titled "Back-to-School 2024: NO ABCs Without A/C." This article highlights the harsh realities that communities are grappling with and outlines avenues to amplify our collective voice.

Staff Spotlight

Gladys Badia

I learned about an open position at CCCEH from a colleague at the Center for Education and Psychological Services at Teachers College and started working at CCCEH in May of 2007. My educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in criminology from John Jay and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Boston University. Despite initially pursuing a career in criminology, my life's work has focused on children’s environmental health. However, my dedication to safety and justice remains unwavering. The research at the Center has not only helped prevent crimes against children and families but has also held industries accountable for their use of toxic chemicals that negatively affect children’s health and development. 

Over the past 17 years, I’ve held various roles at the Center, starting as a clerk and eventually being promoted to Officer of Research. I have had diverse responsibilities, including conducting psychological tests on children, serving as a Spanish language interpreter for medical diagnoses, managing large caseloads, and coordinating different sub-studies. Currently, I manage a caseload of over 260 study participants.

Becoming a mother while working at the Center has made me more mindful of environmental factors and their impact on our health. My experience conducting psychological and knowledge assessments has heightened my awareness of child development milestones, which has allowed me to monitor my own children's development effectively. This experience has led me to make informed choices to protect my children's health and educate my family about environmental exposures and their long-term effects.

Being part of the children’s lives and their families for the last 17 years of the Mothers and Newborns cohort is deeply meaningful to me. We have a long history together. The children involved in our Mothers and Newborns Study are now 17 to 26 years old. Working with families has created a positive work environment at the Center, and the work-life balance there has been particularly beneficial for working mothers like me.  Proud to be a mom helping moms at the Center for Children’s Environmental Health.

CCCEH & EHS Research

Neighborhood Impact on Children’s Well-Being Shifted During COVID-19 Pandemic, ECHO Study Suggests

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted daily life and has raised concerns about its impact on children’s well-being. A new study from the NIH Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Program (ECHO) sheds light on how a neighborhood’s physical and social environment influenced a child’s well-being before and during the pandemic.

According to an analysis of ECHO Cohort data, the neighborhood environment was less likely to be associated with child well-being during the pandemic than in the pre-pandemic period. The pandemic brought unprecedented social changes, altering how people and families interacted with their neighborhoods.

Read Full Press Release

Read Publication

Development and Outcomes of Returning Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure Results in the Washington Heights, NYC Community

Report-back of research results (RBRR) is becoming standard practice for environmental health research studies. RBRR is thought to increase environmental health literacy (EHL), although standardized measurements are limited. For this study, we developed a report back document on exposure to air pollutants, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, during pregnancy through community engaged research and evaluated whether the report increased EHL.

Read More

Largest Study to Date Finds Multiple Metals in Urine Play Key Role in Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality

Higher levels of metals in urine such as cadmium, tungsten, uranium, cobalt, copper and zinc are linked to increased cardiovascular disease and mortality in a racially and ethnically diverse U.S. population, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. While it is well documented that exposure to certain metals has been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality, until now the evidence was limited beyond arsenic, cadmium, and lead and for a racially diverse population. The findings are published in the journal Circulation(link is external and opens in a new window)

When analyzed together, the 6 metal-mixture including cadmium, tungsten, uranium, copper, cobalt, and zinc was associated with a 29 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease and a 66 percent increased risk of death over the study follow up of 18 years. Increased risk of CVD and mortality was also identified for every metal individually.

Read More

Community Work

Lela Tu, CCCEH Summer High School Intern talks about pesticide safety.

CCCEH is happy to partner with Seniors AIM High at the Armory

program, is a collaboration between The Armory Foundation

and the Columbia University Medical Center, AIM Clinic, Office of Academic & Community Partnerships and New York Presbyterian. They provide free fitness opportunities for older adults ages 60 and over from Washington Heights-Inwood, Harlem, and the South Bronx.

Instructors from The Armory lead 60-minute fitness sessions. The fitness session is followed by health conversations. Topics include diabetes, vaccines, falls, hypertension, and now how Seniors can help reduce exposure to environmental toxins and pollutants. to protect children, themselves, their families and friends.

This summer at the Haven Plaza CCCEH intern, Lela Tu, and Maricela Ureño, CCCEH staff discussed Pesticide Safety. On average over 110 seniors have attend each of the sessions. Topics include Fruits & Vegetables with Lower pesticide residue, NYC DOH & the NYC Attorney General's Office information on illegal and extremely toxic pesticides sold on NYC streets and Integrated Pest Management. See handouts below.

Seniors were asked to share pesticide safety handouts and information with family and friends. Recognizing the power of grandparents and Seniors, we also asked them to help register voters. They expediently responded to the call and depleted the voter registration cards and QR code handouts for on line registration.

A big thank you to all the participating Seniors, Fitness Instructors, Phyllis Spencer & Francyna Evins, Zakia Haywood, the Armory Seniors AIM High Program, Naomi Alcantara, Community Service Programs Office of Academic and Community Partnerships and Magnolia Jimenez, NY Center of Excellence for Taub Research on Alzheimer's and the Aging Brain, Department of Neurology Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons.

Educational Materials

Announcements

Help us create a world in which every child has a healthy start.

The Center’s research is powering action to reduce the impacts of climate change, air pollution, and toxic chemicals on children and families.

Your support is yielding both immediate and long-term benefits to children’s health today and in the future. Your gift will protect the gains that we have achieved together.

We hope you will make a tax-free gift donation to the Center in order to continue this important work. 

With Gratitude

Julie Herbstman, PhD

Director, Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health

Frederica P. Perera, DrPH, PhD

Director of Translational Research and Founding Director

Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health



Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health

mailman.columbia.edu/ccceh