Children's Health

Tiny pollution particles can cause major health problems. Our research shows how to minimize your risk.

Nancy Carmona PhD, Environmental and Occupational Hygiene Hometown West Sacramento, CA Future plans Teaching, research and working on environmental health policy

Two international research projects co-led by researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) were recently awarded Tier I pilot grants from the UW Population Health Initiative (PHI). The grants support researchers in laying an interdisciplinary foundation for a future project to generate proof of concept.

Apply for the program In the earliest stages of life, our health is particularly vulnerable to environmental contaminants such as particulate matter in air and endocrine disruptors in food, water and household products.

A bucket-list dream to take an Alaskan cruise turned into a lifetime of public health service in Alaska for Denise Koch, an alumna of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).

What started as a University of Washington-led project to measure air pollution near Sea-Tac International Airport has resulted in schools in the area installing portable air filters to improve classroom air quality.

Daaniya Iyaz MS, Environmental Health Hometown Born in Chennai, India; raised in Sammamish, WA, USA Future plans Working in public health in government or consulting.

In 2021, the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) welcomed new faculty, forged collaborations in climate and health, and continued our innovative, community-oriented environmental health research on areas including air pollution, COVID-19 and the far-reaching health impacts of wildfire smoke across Washington state. Explore our top stories below.

As the COVID-19 pandemic created economic hardship and food insecurity for many families, a key governmental program for nutritional support pivoted to offer remote services and more flexible food options.

For Washington’s K-12 students, having clean air is just as important as having a great teacher, according to a growing body of research on air pollution from traffic, wildfire smoke and other sources that can infiltrate schools and endanger health.

Judit Marsillach has always been drawn to research that improves people’s well-being. But a lucky choice of college roommates led her to the field of environmental health.

During the pandemic, it’s even more important than usual to wash our hands and clean surfaces in our homes regularly. But all this cleaning can come with health and safety risks: children can accidentally consume household cleaners, and breathing in fumes from products like bleach and ammonia can be hazardous.

Joe Lim, PhD student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), is one of two recipients of this year’s Russell L. Castner Endowed Student Research Fund, which supports student research in environmental health.

Read the full story in the latest edition of the UW Public Health magazine Newly updated environmental health research laboratories in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) will have a transformative impact on some of the most important work DEOH

Dr.

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where I am a member of the James-Todd Lab for Research, Education, and Policy.

While browsing in a Davis, California, bookstore, Karen Levy came across a brightly illustrated book with a provocative title that would change the trajectory of her academic career.

Read the full report here

For her dedication to teaching and mentoring researchers who study birth defects, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) Professor Elaine Faustman has been awarded the

Women who experience high employment precarity prior to or during pregnancy have a 48% higher risk of delivering low-birth-weight infants than women with low employment precarity, according to a study from researchers at the University of Washington School of Public Health.

Water is essential for life, but in communities with inadequate sanitation, it can also spread diseases like polio, typhoid and hepatitis A. By monitoring wastewater and water sources contaminated by wastewater for pathogens in fecal matter, researchers and public health workers can help stop waterborne illnesses in their tracks.

How did Esther Min, a graduate student in the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), end up at a six-hour-long dinner in Kyrgyzstan?

Rural children with asthma whose homes have an indoor air cleaner are 72% less likely to have an unplanned clinic or hospital visit than children in homes with no air cleaners, according to a study from the University of Washington and partners in the Yakima Valley.

Rachel Shaffer doesn't flinch from controversy. As a doctoral student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, Shaffer is wading into some of the most heated environmental health issues of our time. Her PhD work in environmental toxicology investigates the connections between air pollution and dementia. That's just the beginning.

Communities underneath and downwind of jets landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are exposed to a type of ultrafine particle pollution that is distinctly associated with aircraft, according to a new University of Washington study that is the first to identify the unique "signature" of aircraft emissions in Washington state.

Babies born today will face unprecedented health risks and life-long health consequences from rising temperatures, according to new research published Wednesday from The Lancet.