The Environmental Protection Agency Monday announced $3.7 million in grant funding to two institutions to establish research centers. The facilities will address children’s cumulative health impacts from agricultural and non-chemical exposures.
Children in underserved, rural agricultural communities face increased health risks due to the combination of agricultural, according to the EPA. The agency says there is an urgent need to investigate the cumulative health impacts of chemical and non-chemical exposures for children in these communities. EPA spokesperson Chris Frey says, “EPA is funding these research centers to identify effective, science-based options aimed at reducing early childhood health disparities in agricultural communities.”
Florida State University will use the funding to evaluate chemical and psychosocial stressors and promote children’s cumulative health in rural and agricultural communities. The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center will use the grants to mitigate the chemical and non-chemical stressors that affect school absenteeism caused by gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases in Texas and Oklahoma.