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15 Organizations and Individuals to be Honored for Their Leadership in Protecting Children

Release Date: 04/14/2005
Contact Information:


Contact: Enesta Jones, 202-564-7873 / [email protected]

(04/14/05) EPA is honoring 15 organizations and individuals for their outstanding leadership in protecting children from environmental risks. The recipients will be recognized at the First Annual Children's Environmental Health Excellence Awards Ceremony on April 21 in Washington, D.C. EPA has steadily increased its efforts on protecting infants and children, who are more susceptible than adults to some environmental risks, because their nervous, immune, digestive and other systems are still developing.

This year's 15 winners demonstrate strong commitment to children's environmental health. The recipients include an intervention program in the Seattle area that showed that 90 percent of the families visited made behavioral changes and 87 percent of these families felt those changes improved their children's health and reduced asthma episodes; a Childhood Lead Action Project in Rhode Island where state-wide lead poisoning rates have dropped from 18 percent in 1994 to just 3 percent in 2003. Also included is a program in North Carolina where school buses were fitted with diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) and significantly reduced emissions with a 20 percent decrease in diesel particulate matter, a 20 percent decrease in carbon monoxide and a 40 percent decrease in unburned hydrocarbons.

The Children's Environmental Health Awards are designed to increase awareness, stimulate activity and recognize efforts that protect children from environmental health risks at the local, regional, national and international level. Excellence and Recognition are the two levels of awards. The excellence level is a competitive award for groups or individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in protecting children from environmental health risks. The recognition level is for groups or individuals who have demonstrated commitment to protecting children from environmental health risks. EPA is issuing 15 excellence awards and 113 recognition awards.

For a complete list of the award recipients and a description of their programs, go to: https://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/2005_CEH_Awards.htm .