Back to School

BACK TO SCHOOL

Dear Friends,

We at the Center share the feelings of excitement and anxiety that come with the start of this new school year. As we return back to school and work, let's keep in mind that our best defense against Covid-19, and the Delta variant is getting vaccinated and continuing mask wearing even if vaccinated. In addition, remember to follow the other prevention recommendations: social distancing, get tested if you are exposed to COVID-19, eat well, stay active, and sleep well.

CCCEH will continue to keep you informed on the latest COVID-19 research and guidance from Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. We wish all a healthy and safe "Back to School".

Please find multi-lingual information links below.

En Español

NYC DOE-Safe and Healthy Learning for All 2021-2022

NYC Health - My Vaccine Record (Access your child's vaccination record for school through NYC's City Wide Immunization Registry, CIR)

CDC-Guidance for COVID Prevention K-12 Schools

CCCEH & EHS News & Publications

The Climate Crisis Is a Health Crisis. We Need Your Help August 19, 2021

THE COLUMBIA MAILMAN SCHOOL’S NEW LEADER IN CLIMATE AND HEALTH EDUCATION IS ON A MISSION TO MAKE YOU CONSIDER HOW THE WARMING CLIMATE CHANGES EVERYTHING

This summer saw a terrifying onslaught of climate-related disasters and portents—wildfires, floods, extreme temperatures, drought, signs of a collapsing Gulf Stream, an iceberg the size of Puerto Rico, the world’s biggest rainforest becoming a net emitter of carbon dioxide. Then came the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, 4,000 pages of rigorous science on the cataclysmic consequences of fossil fuel emissions.

EPA Takes Action to Address Risk from Chlorpyrifos and Protect Children’s Health, August 18, 2021

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will stop the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos on all food to better protect human health, particularly that of children and farmworkers.

"evidence on neurodevelopmental effects in fetuses and children resulting from chlorpyrifos exposure as reported in epidemiological studies, particularly the results from the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) study on pregnant women which reported an association between fetal cord blood levels of chlorpyrifos and neurodevelopmental outcomes.."

Read Regulation and Center's Research Impact

One in Three Americans Already Had COVID-19 by the End of 2020, August 25, 2021

UNDOCUMENTED INFECTIONS ACCOUNTED FOR ESTIMATED THREE-QUARTERS OF INFECTIONS LAST YEAR

A new study published in the journal Nature estimates that 103 million Americans, or 31 percent of the U.S. population, had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 by the end of 2020. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health researchers modeled the spread of the coronavirus, finding that fewer than one-quarter of infections (22%) were accounted for in cases confirmed through public health reports based on testing.

Delta Variant Is 60 Percent More Contagious Than Original Virus and Evades Immunity, August 16, 2021

THE DELTA VARIANT IS MORE CONTAGIOUS THAN ORIGINAL SARS-COV-2 AND BETTER ABLE TO ESCAPE PRIOR IMMUNITY, ACCORDING TO MODELING STUDIES OF CORONAVIRUS VARIANTS

Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health used a computer model to estimate that the Delta variant is around 60 percent more contagious than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and can escape immunity from prior infection roughly half of the time. Compared to Delta, Beta and Gamma are less transmissible but more able to escape immunity. Compared to the original virus, Iota is more fatal to older adults.

CCCEH & Oregon State Air Pollution

Wrist Band Study

While pregnant participants wore a wristband for 2 days. We analyzed the wristbands for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These are found in fossil fuels like oil and coal. When these fuels evaporate or are burned, PAHs enter the air. Burning wood, grasses, candles or tobacco will also release PAHs. Some PAHs are air pollutants.

We do not know how much of a chemical is needed to cause health effects. Therefore, the findings shows the chemicals that were found, it does not mean that the participants in the study or their children will suffer poor health effects. We are collecting this information to get a better idea of what types of chemicals people in upper Manhattan and the Bronx, members of our cohort, may be exposed to.

• We detected 52 out of the 63 PAHs we looked for in this study.

• An average of 15 chemicals were detected in each wristband. The lowest was 5 chemicals in a wristband and the highest was 37 chemicals in a wristband.

• Out of the 63 PAHs we tested, 10 were found in over half of the study participants.

We can compare this data to other studies using the wristband. These 10 most common PAHs that we saw in New York are also seen commonly in wristbands worn by people in Ohio and Oregon. En Español