A Message From Dr. Henry Falk,
ATSDR Assistant Administrator
This Month: Children’s Environmental Health

Welcome to the first issue of Public Health and the Environment, the newsletter of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). This inaugural issue of the newsletter, formerly called Hazardous Substances and Public Health, focuses on children’s environmental health. Because their nervous and other organ systems are undergoing rapid development and change, children are uniquely vulnerable to a variety of exposures to hazardous substances from the air, water, and soil. I hope that you will find this issue helpful in learning more about the growing understanding of the linkages between exposures to toxic substances and disease and developmental disorders in children. I also hope this issue and future issues in which children will be featured will help readers understand how this expanding science base supports efforts by ATSDR, its partner organizations, state and local health and environmental agencies, and others to protect children from harmful environmental exposures and promote environments in which children can be healthy.