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THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. Jerome A. Paulson, MD Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Public Health Co-Director, Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health & the Environment George Washington University. June, 2007.

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THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

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  1. THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Jerome A. Paulson, MD Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Public Health Co-Director, Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health & the Environment George Washington University June, 2007

  2. THE MID-ATLANTIC CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S HEALTH & THE ENVIRONMENT (MACCHE) A PEDIATRIC ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SPECIALTY UNIT (PEHSU)

  3. OBJECTIVES • By the end of this session participants will be able to: • Describe uses of the Internet • Evaluate WWW documents using criteria discussed in the session • Understand some of the limitations of the WWW • Use a portal, a search engine and other types of search systems to maximize effective Web searching

  4. The World Wide Web = The Internet Essentially the same things THE WORLD WIDE WEB – THE INTERNET

  5. A doorway to the world A rapid means of locating and retrieving information A rapid means of communication THE WORLD WIDE WEB

  6. TYPES of WEB SEARCH TOOLS • General search engines – type in a word or phrase and retrieve information based on algorithm • AltaVista [www.altavista.com], Google • Be cognizant of paid advertising • Multiple search engines – retrieve information from multiple search engines simultaneously • Metacrawler, Dogpile [www.dogpile.com] • Directories – select from categories • LookSmart [www.looksmart.com]

  7. TYPES of WEB SEARCH TOOLS • Portals – combination search engine, subject directory, e-mail, chat, etc. • Yahoo [http://www.yahoo.com/] • Subject-specific search directories • MedWeb http://www.medweb.emory.edu/MedWeb/ • Site-specific search tools – search box in corner • Databases • MEDLINE, TOXLINE

  8. TYPES of WEB SEARCH TOOLS • On-line encyclopedias – Be very cautious • Some • No oversight on content • Anyone can change content • Political reasons • Advocacy reasons • For example – Wikipedia and similar • Not appropriate tool for professional use • Others • Have oversight, editors, peer-review, etc • For example – Encyclopedia of the Earth

  9. Evaluating Environmental Health Information & Avoiding Misinformation

  10. EVALUATING RESOURCES • Rationale • Anyone can publish anything on the Web • Unlike traditional print resources, web resources rarely have editors or fact-checkers • Currently, no web standards exist to ensure accuracy

  11. EVALUATING RESOURCES • Authority • Who is the author? • What is the author’s affiliation? • Can you contact the author? • Objectivity • Is the purpose of the site clearly stated? • Is sponsorship acknowledged? • Is the information impartially presented?

  12. EVALUATING RESOURCES • Accuracy • Is it reliable and free from error? • Is the source of information clearly stated? • Coverage • Is it complete for the topic and audience? • Currency • When was the information produced? • Has it been updated recently?

  13. EVALUATING RESOURCES • Example • http://www.health-e-kids.org/ - About Us • http://www.earthportal.org/ - About the Earth Portal

  14. EVALUATING RESOURCES • Using domain names • .com - a commercial site • .net - a commercial site • .gov - a US government site • .org - a non-profit site • .edu - an academic site • .mil - a US military site

  15. EVALUATING RESOURCES • Using domain names – some new ones • .biz - a commercial site • .info – any type of site • .int – international organization • .aero – air transport industry site • .coop - a co-op business site • .museum – a museum site • .name - a personals site • .pro – a professional; e.g., MD, lawyer, etc

  16. EVALUATING RESOURCES • Criteria for Assessing the Quality of Health Information on the Internet • http://hitiweb.mitretek.org/docs/policy.html • The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources • http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html

  17. CONCERNS • Uncensored content • Hoaxes, frauds, and “urban legends” • http://www.snopes.com/ • http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/

  18. Evaluating Search Engines • Search Engine Showdown: The Users Guide to Web Searching http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/ • Google • www.google.com • www.google.com/unclesam [http://www.google.com/ig/usgov] • Mercury

  19. Site-Specific Search Tools • NIH – www.nih.gov • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -www.cdc.gov • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – www.epa.gov • ATSDR - www.atsdr.cdc.gov • WHO – www.who.int/

  20. US National Library of Medicine Databases http://www.nlm.nih.gov/

  21. Toxicology and Environmental Health Information • http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/environmentalhealthinformation.html • TOXNET • TOXMAP • HAZ-MAP • TOX TOWN • Household Products Database

  22. TOXNET http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ • Hazardous Substances Database (HSDB) • Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) • GENE-TOX • TOXLINE • Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) • Others

  23. TOXNET http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ • Factual Databases - HSDB, IRIS, CCRIS, GENE-TOX • Bibliographic Databases - TOXLINE, DART/ETIC, EMIC • Toxic Chemical Releases - TRI • Chemical Identification/Nomenclature - ChemIDplus

  24. Human Health Effects Emergency Medical Treatment Animal Toxicity Studies Metabolism /Pharmacokinetics Pharmacology Environmental Fate/Exposure Environmental Standards & Regulations Chemical/Physical Properties Chemical Safety & Handling Occupational Exposure Standards Manufacturing and Use Laboratory Methods Special References Synonyms and Identifiers Factual DatabaseHazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) 4500 Chemicals (1 record/chemical)

  25. Factual DatabaseIntegrated Risk Information System (IRIS) • Noncarcinogenic Assessment - Oral (RfD) • Noncarcinogenic Assessment - Inhalation (RfC) • Carcinogenic Assessment - Oral • Carcinogenic Assessment - Inhalation 535 Chemical Records

  26. Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System (CCRIS) 8000 Chemical Records Carcinogenicity Studies Tumor Inhibition Studies Tumor Promotion Studies Mutagenicity Studies GENE-TOX 3200 Chemical Records Mutagenicity Studies Factual Database

  27. Bibliographic Databases • TOXLINE - TOXicology Literature onLINE • DART/ETIC - Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology/Environmental Teratology Information Center

  28. Chemical Information ChemIDplus • Information on 350,000 chemicals • Chemical structures for over 50,000 chemicals • Search by chemical name, CAS RN, structure • Superlist - “list of lists” of hazardous chemicals, e.g., California Prop 65, DOT, IARC

  29. Other Specific Web Sites

  30. Most National Governments Have Environmental Information on the Web • Poland – Ministry of the Environment http://www.mos.gov.pl./index_main.shtml • Canada – Health Canada – Environment & Workplace Health http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/index_e.html • Japan – Ministry of the Environment http://www.env.go.jp/en/

  31. Environmental Health Perspectives • Access to full-text at no cost • http://www.ehponline.org/ • Children’s Health Resources • http://www.ehponline.org/children/resources.html • Children’s Health links • http://www.ehponline.org/children/links.html

  32. World Health Organization • WHO – Environmental Health Information http://www.who.int/topics/environmental_health/en/ • Children’s Environmental Health http://www.who.int/ceh/en/ • Healthy Environments for Children Alliance (HECA) http://www.who.int/heca/en/ • Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe http://www.euro.who.int/childhealthenv/policy/20020724_2 • Global Initiative on Children's Environmental Health Indicators http://www.who.int/ceh/indicators/en/

  33. European Union • European Union Home Page – Europa • http://europa.eu/ • Information resources • http://europa.eu/geninfo/info/index_en.htm • Environmental issues • http://europa.eu/pol/env/index_en.htm • Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals • http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_intro.htm

  34. The Health and Environment Alliance • European Public Health Alliance Environmental Network - HEAL • http://www.env-health.org/

  35. International Research and Information Network on Children's Health, Environment and Safety (INCHES) • http://inchesnetwork.net/

  36. US EPA – Child Specific Information • Office of Children’s Health Protection - www.epa.gov/children • Toxicity and Exposure Assessment for Children's Health (TEACH) • Contains over 1,400 references covering information on environmental contaminants that potentially impact children's health • www.epa.gov/teach/

  37. US CDC – Child Specific Information • National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry [NCEH/ATSDR] • National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals - http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/ • Toxicological profiles http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxpro2.html

  38. Environmental Health News • www.EnvironmentalHealthNews.org • World-wide, English language press • Environmental health issues • Summaries of scientific papers • Other information

  39. Earth Portal - http://www.earthportal.org/ • All aspects of the earth “especially in regards to how these systems support life and underpin human existence.” • EarthNews • http://www.earthportal.org/news/ • News articles • Encyclopedia of the Earth • http://www.eoearth.org/ • Searchable set of reference articles written for EOE • Earth Forum • http://www.earthportal.org/forum/ • Discussion

  40. Information in Languages Other than English • Many US government web sites have Spanish language materials • NIH – http://salud.nih.gov/ • CDC – www.cdc.gov/spanish/default.htm • EPA - http://www.epa.gov/espanol/ • WHO – www.who.int • EU – http://europa.eu

  41. Other Specific Web Sites • Pesticide Information • The Extension Toxicology Network – http://extoxnet.orst.edu/ • School Information • Center for Health, Environment and Justice - http://www.chej.org/ • Healthy Schools Network - http://www.healthyschools.org/

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