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8 Implementing the Committee's Recommendations to Improve Public Health
Pages 160-167

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From page 160...
... Using biomonitoring data to establish exposure surveillance programs while also ensuring that medical professionals and the public have access to clear, accurate information about the risks of PFAS exposure will improve public health overall while also empowering people and communities to safeguard their own health. According to the 2006 report by the National Research Council Human Biomonitoring for Environmental Chemicals: Identifying, controlling, and preventing population exposures to potentially harmful environmental chemicals have been cornerstones of U.S.
From page 161...
... ,2 often provide a snapshot of exposure that is useful in tracking nationwide trends in exposure over time, but cannot inform a localized public health response or help identify potential exposure "hot spots." Additionally, unlike the National Health Interview Survey,3 the NHANES does not list urban versus rural as a publicly available variable, which limits researchers' ability to identify potential location-based disparities in PFAS exposure. Without collecting and compiling comprehensive PFAS biomonitoring data, federal agencies are less able to prioritize highly exposed communities in their mitigation strategies.
From page 162...
... Increasing the opportunities for clinician education in environmental and occupational medicine; promoting collaborative, interdisciplinary environmental health networks; and framing environmental health as a tenet of preventive medicine and primary care are essential to ensure proper medical care for those facing environmental exposures and to assist families in reducing exposures when possible. One resource that can be leveraged to help respond to environmental exposures is the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs)
From page 163...
... 8 addresses environmental exposures and health, including PFAS and related clinical care, in various online resources and engages with universities to integrate environmental health into their nursing education curricula. Other organizations, such as the Children's Environmental Health Network,9 also provide educational materials in environmental health for health care providers.
From page 164...
... Furthermore, comprehensive PFAS exposure surveillance requires collaboration among a range of experts across different fields (Nassif et al., 2021) ; training in environmental and occupational medicine and environmental health is lacking; and support for PFAS health literacy is limited.
From page 165...
... , can increase environmental health knowledge without requiring unattainable funding allocations. MOVING FORWARD Based on the recommendations and conclusions of this report, ATSDR, NIEHS, environmental health organizations, and bodies responsible for clinical education can take specific actions to address issues of PFAS contamination and clinical care, which will ultimately lead to improved public health (see Figure 8-1)
From page 166...
... These efforts in environmental exposure surveillance, environmental health literacy, and improved environmental health tracking will aid in continuing to identify communities impacted by PFAS, which in turn will support exposure mitigation and effective preventive medicine responses. As the committee looks forward, it sees a pressing need for a robust environmental health infrastructure to continue to respond to PFAS, as well as to address other complex emerging and persistent environmental challenges.
From page 167...
... 2017. Advancing environmental health surveillance in the US through a national human biomonitoring network.


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