Trump’s EPA Dismisses Agency’s Own Findings That Chlorpyrifos Harms Children’s Brains
24 September
Politics
Moms Clean Air Force members attend a press conference hosted by Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announcing legislation to ban chlorpyrifos on July 25, 2017. Moms Clean Air Force
The Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a risk assessment for toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos Tuesday that downplayed its effects on children's brains and may be the first indication of how the administration's "secret science" policy could impact public health.
<p>Several studies have found that babies exposed to chlorpyrifos in the womb can suffer from lower birth weights, attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorder, lower IQ and limited working memory, <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/epa-ignores-evidence-chlorpyrifos-causes-permanent-damage-to-childrens-brains" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Earthjustice pointed out</a>. But the EPA on Tuesday discounted those findings, ruling instead that the science on chlorpyrifos' brain-damaging effects "remains unresolved." In doing so, it reversed the findings of EPA scientists from previous administrations.</p>
<p>"This shows that E.P.A. has completely abandoned any commitment to protecting children from this extremely toxic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals" target="_self">chemical</a> when their own scientists recommended twice to ban it," <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> senior director for health Erik D. Olson told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/climate/epa-pesticide-chlorpyrifos-children.html?fbclid=IwAR1oVHFXSRiLg7sx1wgirelbWGK5jBoZ6b_NO0diW0o-RBfJRUTDU4itq6w" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "The science is being overridden by politics."</p>
<p>In Tuesday's conclusion, the EPA discounted several epidemiological studies, including a prominent one conducted by Columbia University that found a connection between chlorpyrifos exposure in utero and developmental disorders in toddlers. This suggests the agency is moving forward with its proposed "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-limits-science-public-health-2645395622.html" target="_self">secret science</a>" policy that would reject or at least give less weight to the conclusions of studies that do not make their underlying data public. However, several long-term health studies do not publish such data in order to preserve their subjects' privacy. The "secret science" policy has not yet been made an official EPA rule, but the agency already seems to be applying it in the case of the chlorpyrifos assessment. EPA spokesperson James Hewitt said the agency had not been able to confirm the conclusions of the Columbia study.</p><p>"The EPA is ignoring decades of science by leading universities and in doing so, it's neglecting its duty to protect children from pesticides," Earthjustice managing attorney Patti Goldman said in a statement. "Ignoring the demonstrated harm to children doesn't make chlorpyrifos safe, it just shows a commitment to keep a toxic pesticide in the market and in our food at all cost."</p>
<p>EPA scientists sounded the alarm on chlorpyrifos in 2014 and 2016, recommending it be banned from use on food, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/517654-epa-questions-science-linking-widely-used-pesticide-to-brain-damage" target="_blank">according to The Hill</a>. (It was already banned for household use in 2000). But in 2017, the EPA under Trump <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-pesticide-ban-chlorpyrifos-2338511186.html" target="_self">halted</a> the process of banning the chemical. This <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pesticide-chlorpyrifos-2458558122.html" target="_self">triggered a round of lawsuits</a>, leading eventually to Tuesday's risk assessment.</p><p>"They kicked the decision back to scientists and said they're reanalyzing it so that's how they got around the courts telling them to decide whether to ban it or not," <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> senior scientist Nathan Donley told The Hill.</p><p>He said Tuesday's assessment suggests it is unlikely that the agency will ultimately decide to ban the pesticide.</p><p>Meanwhile, states including <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/california-chlorpyrifos-ban-2636704080.html" target="_self">California</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/chlorpyrifos-ban-hawaii-2578016885.html" target="_self">Hawaii</a> have taken matters into their own hands and banned the chemical. Corteva, the pesticide's No. 1 maker, has said it will stop producing it by the end of 2020, according to The New York Times. Despite this, Earthjustice pointed to <a href="https://beta.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0850-0938" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EPA documents</a> showing that Corteva has been lobbying the agency.</p>
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Few U.S. Students Repeat a Grade but That Could Change Due to COVID-19
19 September
Health + Wellness
54% of parents with school-age children expressed concern that their children could fall behind academically, according to a poll conducted over the summer of 2020. Maria Symchych-Navrotska / Getty Images
By Pamela Davis-Kean
With in-person instruction becoming the exception rather than the norm, 54% of parents with school-age children expressed concern that their children could fall behind academically, according to a poll conducted over the summer of 2020. Initial projections from the Northwest Evaluation Association, which conducts research and creates commonly used standardized tests, suggest that these fears are well-grounded, especially for children from low-income families.
<p>Based on the association's findings and my own research <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sFKNk7EAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">regarding academic achievement and socioeconomic status</a>, I believe it's likely, based on these early projections, that the widespread and rapid switch to remote schooling will have negative long-term academic consequences.</p><p>One possibility is that the share of students who end up repeating at least one grade at some point could rise due to this unprecedented disruption.</p><p>According to government data collected in 2018, only about <a href="https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/9713-children-ages-6-to-17-who-repeated-one-or-more-grades-since-starting-kindergarten" target="_blank">6% of U.S. students</a> <a href="http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/graderet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had to repeat a grade</a> before graduating from high school prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDI5NzkxNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzMxNzExOH0.selMyETdcP84ZFiYNqsaFZRjPHh0Zwj9HI9ySU77Yl4/img.png?width=980" id="952f7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="99b9ddf4c6e5e0c4bcdbf9c2d9150f22" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Any potential effort to make students repeat a grade when they can't demonstrate they have learned enough to advance to the next one would build on some recent precedents.</p><p>Starting in 2001 with the <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/nclb/methods/reading/reading.html#4" target="_blank">No Child Left Behind Act</a>, reading proficiency by third grade became one of the federal mandates for schools to receive designated streams of federal funding.</p><p>This <a href="https://www.fcd-us.org/assets/2016/04/DoubleJeopardyReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federal legislation, combined with research</a> indicating that children who couldn't yet read <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.06.004" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fared better when they repeated a grade</a>, brought about a wave of state-level legislation. So far, a total of <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/third-grade-reading-legislation.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">16 states have enacted laws</a> that prevent students from moving on from third grade until they are considered <a href="http://hermes.cde.state.co.us/drupal/islandora/object/co%3A26127/datastream/OBJ/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proficient on standardized reading tests</a>.</p>
<p>These <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/third-grade-reading-legislation.aspx" target="_blank">state laws vary</a>. Some states, like <a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2011/1008.25" target="_blank">Florida</a>, require students who aren't reading well enough to repeat third grade altogether. Others, such as <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/120B.12" target="_blank">Minnesota</a>, let children move onto fourth grade and provide them with supplemental reading assistance until they can read at what the state deems to be a third-grade level. In practice, students typically don't repeat more than one grade.</p><p>I consider it likely that the academic consequences of the extended period of remote learning that began in March 2020 will be unequal. These consequences are bound to fall more heavily on students who are growing up facing persistent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.19.2.294" target="_blank">economic hardship</a>.</p><p>The practice of making children who are struggling to learn how to read repeat third grade, however well-intentioned, can be risky. For example, students who repeat a grade can feel <a href="http://hermes.cde.state.co.us/drupal/islandora/object/co%3A26127/datastream/OBJ/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stigmatized and less motivated to learn</a>.</p><p>Therefore, I believe parents, educators and policymakers will all need to try to address the inevitable gaps in learning bound to arise from widespread remote learning during the pandemic.</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/pamela-davis-kean-1142666" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pamela Davis-Kean</a> is a </em><em>Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Pamela Davis-Kean receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD).</em><span></span>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/few-us-students-ever-repeat-a-grade-but-that-could-change-due-to-covid-19-143883" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Teen Depression Was Already a Problem; The Pandemic Could Be Making It Worse
17 September
Health + Wellness
A teenager reads a school English assignment at home after her school shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 22, 2020 in Brooklyn, New York. Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty Images
The pandemic has affected everyone, but mental health experts warn that youth and teens are suffering disproportionately and that depression and suicide rates are increasing.
<p>"While young people are generally physically healthy, they are psychiatrically vulnerable." Dr. Richard Friedman wrote in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/opinion/suicide-young-people.html?smid=em-share" target="_blank">New York Times</a> opinion piece in January.</p><p>The psychiatrist warned even then that there was already an "epidemic of teen depression and suicide" that was largely being overlooked and under-supported. He cited <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db352-h.pdf" target="_blank">evidence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)</a> that, after declining for almost 20 years, the suicide rate among Americans aged 10 to 24 had jumped 56 percent between 2007 and 2017. Suicide has been, and is still, the second leading cause of death, after accidents, for that same age range, the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db352-h.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CDC</a> reported.</p>
<p>Shutdowns and other responses to the coronavirus pandemic since Friedman's article have exacerbated the already precarious situation of youth mental health and well-being.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm" target="_blank">CDC survey on mental health in June</a> found symptoms of anxiety and depression "up sharply," <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/911117577/the-pandemic-has-researchers-worried-about-teen-suicide" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NPR</a> reported. 11% of respondents said they had "seriously considered" suicide in the past 30 days; among 18 to 34-year-olds, that number more than doubled to 25%. The news report offered up uncertainty about the future and the state of the world, educational and daily routine disruptions, and isolation from peers and caring adults as potential factors.</p><p>Teenagers crave structure, Mendi Baron, founder of Ignite Treatment Centers, told <a href="https://knpr.org/knpr/2020-07/toll-teens-mental-health-experts-say-pandemic-causing-uptick-depression-suicides" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KNPR's State of Nevada</a>. Without it, their mood and mental health suffer, she said.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/stress-coping/grief-loss.html" target="_blank">CDC</a>, many have experienced increased grief and loss due to the "drastic changes to daily routines and ways of life that usually bring us comfort and a feeling of stability." How adolescents experience and process this grief is similar and different than in children and adults, the center said.</p><p>"Adolescents may experience significant changes in their sleep patterns, isolate themselves more, frequently appear irritable or frustrated, withdraw from usual activities, or engage more frequently with technology," the CDC said. "It is important for parents or caregivers to engage with their adolescents over their grief to promote healthy coping and acceptance. Parents may also need to obtain mental health services for the adolescent and family to deal with grief."</p><p>Teens are also "hardwired to be social," Baron told the KNPR's State of Nevada. Caroline Edgeworth, a high school student and co-founder of Hope Means Nevada, told KNPR that school closures had "dramatically hurt" her and her friends because of lost time together and with their sports teams.</p><p>"It was kind of my escape from home and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cabin-fever-coping-skills-2645677793.html" target="_self">now I'm stuck at home</a>," she said, reported KNPR.</p><p>Lisa Damour, an adolescent psychologist, agreed.</p><p>"Teenagers are in a developmental space where it is critically important that they have regular contact with their peers and are able to develop close and ongoing relationships with adults outside the home, such as their teachers, their coaches, their advisers," she told NPR. "And I worry very much about what it means for that to be disrupted by the pandemic."</p>
<p>Spending more time at home due to quarantine also increases another major factor in youth suicides: increased access to lethal weapons.</p><p>NPR reported that gun ownership in a particular state was the single strongest predictor of youth suicide rates in the state. A 2019 study found that for each 10 percent increase in household gun ownership, the suicide rate for 10- to 19-year-olds increases by more than 25 percent in that state, NPR reported.</p><p>Gun sales also doubled between March and June, the report stated, with 40% of the 10 million new guns sold during that time being to new gun owners. It's a "red flag" because firearms are used in over half of youth suicides, NPR reported.</p><p>Not having guns in the home or keeping them safely locked away is especially important with adolescents having to stay home due to the pandemic because "teens are impulsive," Damour told NPR.</p>
<p>These factors are causing some experts to push for schools to reopen, including CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield, reported <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/schools-reopen-students-mental-health-experts-weigh/story?id=71969959" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ABC News</a>. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and American Psychiatric Association (APA) generally support the CDC's push to reopen schools for the sake of children's mental and developmental health, but not where coronavirus is circulating, ABC reported.</p><p>"Whether we are sending students back for in-person school or not, we need to put emphasis on providing mental health support," child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Avanti Bergquist, elected school board member and distinguished fellow of AACAP, told ABC.</p><p>Parents, caregivers and teachers can keep these tips in mind to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/childrens-mental-health-pandemic-family-support-2647353043.html?rebelltitem=5#rebelltitem5" target="_self">help kids and teens struggling during the pandemic</a>:</p><ul><li>Educate parents and teachers to recognize depression in young people and learn the warning signs of suicide, like sudden behavior changes, talking or writing about suicide, and giving away prized possessions, Friedman wrote in the New York Times.</li><li>Talk to kids. Check-in regularly. If a teen talks about hurting themselves or disappearing, ask directly, "Is that something you think you might really do or you think about doing? Or are you just letting me know that you're very upset right now?," Damour told NPR. Importantly, listen with compassion and without dismissing what they are saying.</li><li>Listen. The <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-vickroy-teens-mental-health-st-0826-20190823-xcp4eclb35hvjhhha7b6uiu25q-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chicago Tribune</a> reported on the importance of being heard. Ask students how they are doing, and listen with an open mind. The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/advice-for-parents-mental-health-children-covid-19/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a> stressed fostering relationships and creating an open-dialogue about wellness and feelings. "The stronger the connections are, the more opportunities they'll have to address something before it becomes untenable," said Nadjeh Awadallah, director of a Chicago INSPIRE program, reported the Tribune.</li><li>Acknowledge grief and loss. The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/stress-coping/grief-loss.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CDC</a> suggested outlets to process and express grief such as music, art, writing, gardening and other creative activities.</li><li>Look out for anger as an indicator. "In teenagers, uniquely, depression can take the form of irritability," Damour said, reported NPR. "That depression in teenagers sometimes looks like a prickly porcupine. Everybody rubs them the wrong way. And that is easy to miss because sometimes we'll just dismiss that as being a snarky teenager."</li><li>Foster strong coping skills, also suggested the Tribune. Awadallah suggested meditation, conversation and other means of self-regulation and centering. Being reflective and able to calm yourself down is an important self-care component that everyone, including adults, should practice, Awadallah told the Tribune. For these pandemic times and beyond, there are <a href="http://mindfulnessforteens.com/guided-meditations/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">online resources</a> and <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/meditation-apps-to-try-now" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">even phone apps</a> specifically catering to teens to boost their mindfulness and mental and emotional well-being. </li><li>Develop new rituals to replace lost ones. The CDC suggested those that live together to play board games or <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/quarantine-fatique-2645923350.html" target="_self">exercise together outdoors</a>. Those isolated can play virtual games together online.</li><li>Encourage safe outlets. Look for safe sports, work or volunteer opportunities that allow teens to have social time and contact with other caring adults, Damour told NPR.</li><li>Use <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/online-therapy-coronavirus-2646114980.html" target="_self">tele-therapy</a>. Damour noted that therapy over video chat has worked "surprisingly well" with adolescents, NPR reported.</li></ul><p>Finally, "one of the most important things to know about grief is that there isn't a quick fix," licensed therapist Jody Baumstein told <a href="https://www.strong4life.com/en/pages/behavior/articles/helping-kids-and-teens-deal-with-grief" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Strong4Life</a>. "The only way to truly deal with grief is to acknowledge it, feel it and work through it."</p><p><em>If you or someone you know is showing warning sides of suicide risk, reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK or at </em><a href="https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>suicidepreventionlifeline.org</em></a><em>. The </em><a href="https://www.crisistextline.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Crisis Text Line</em></a><em> is available by texting TALK to 741741.</em></p>
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'Greenhouse Gaslighting': Trump Declares Himself the #1 Environmental President
09 September
Politics
Trump exits from the stage after speaking at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse on Sept. 8, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
President Trump told a crowd in Jupiter, Florida Tuesday that he is an environmental president, claiming that "it's true: number one since Teddy Roosevelt. Who would have thought Trump is the great environmentalist?" according to the White House transcript of the speech. He added, "And I am. I am. I believe strongly in it."
<p>The dubious claim was made as he vowed to sign a 10-year moratorium on offshore oil and gas <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-oil-drilling" target="_self">drilling</a> off the Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina coast. Essentially, he is signing a moratorium that is already in place that his own administration proposed lifting, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/us/politics/trump-drilling-environment-florida.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>The New York Times also noted how dubious the claim Trump made is when he called himself a great environmentalist after he has abandoned the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, rolled back clean air and clean water initiatives, lowered emissions standards on vehicles, allowed toxic pollution to spew into the atmosphere, and warmly embraced a toxic pesticide known to cause brain damage in children.</p>
<p>When he signed the measure Tuesday at the campaign stop near the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, he said, "This protects your beautiful gulf and your beautiful ocean, and it will for a long time to come," as <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-claims-environmental-progress-weakened-rules-72878809" target="_blank">ABC News</a> reported. And yet, at no time during the speech did he note that he tried to expand offshore drilling coast-to-coast, but only dialed it back after then Florida Governor Rick Scott asked the President not to lift the moratorium for his state.</p><p>In the speech, Trump tried to cast himself as a great protector of the environment in a state that is crucial to his reelection. While he and Joe Biden are in a statistical dead heat in Florida, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> is an issue that weighs on the minds of both Republicans and Democrats in the state. Florida, which is mostly at sea level, is often battered by hurricanes, susceptible to heat waves, and vulnerable to rising oceans, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>Trying to claim the mantle of environmentalism, Trump said, "My administration is proving every day that we can improve our environment while creating millions of high-paying jobs. This is a really sharp contrast to the extreme, radical left that you've had to deal with." Without citing any evidence, he added, "Joe Biden's plan would destroy America's middle class while giving a free pass to the world's worst foreign polluters like China, Russia, India, and many others. They don't have to clean up their lands, but we have to clean up ours. The left's agenda isn't about protecting the environment, it's about punishing America."</p><p>Trump also failed to mention his recent consideration of opening up the Gulf of Mexico to expanded drilling, as <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/10/interior-drilling-florida-waters-november-election-310595" target="_blank">POLITICO</a> reported. Nor did he mention that signing a moratorium for oil and gas exploration off the Atlantic Coast is purely theater since any declaration would have to go through Congress, which is extremely unlikely to take up the issue prior to Election Day, according to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-09-08/trump-recasting-a-dubious-record-declares-himself-the-great-environmentalist" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>.</p>
<p>Trump's bizarre claims of environmentalism after a track record of reducing protections stunned environmentalists who often see Trump as the president with one of the worst environmental legacies in history.</p><p>"He's ignoring science, he's ignoring experts and now he's even ignoring his own record," said Pete Maysmith, a senior vice president for the League of Conservation Voters, a nonprofit group, to the Los Angeles Times. "Florida is ground zero for climate change with extreme weather and hurricanes in particular. Donald Trump has attempted to roll back over 100 environmental protections, including dozens related to climate change and clean water. He's an environmental disaster and Florida's paying the price."</p><p>The Sierra Club zeroed in what Trump has done to the environment in Florida.</p><p>"Failing to adequately fund Everglades restoration, attempting to sell off our waters to corporate polluters and rolling back more than 100 environmental protections doesn't make you anything other than the worst president ever for the environment and climate," said Ariel Hayes, the political director of the Sierra Club, as The New York Times reported. "Voters in Florida and across the country have watched Trump achieve this status for nearly four years, and no amount of greenhouse gaslighting will change that."</p>
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Thomas Barwick / Stone / Getty Images
By Erika Bocknek
The choice between in-person learning, where available, and remote learning is a fraught one for parents. Children experience joy and connection when they learn alongside other kids, but they risk being exposed to the coronavirus. Remote learning at home can protect kids from COVID-19, but does it set back their social-emotional development?
<p>The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/eeholmes423/posts/10157358309075404" target="_blank">choice between mental or physical health</a> might feel stark. But as a family therapist and professor of educational psychology who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=t-lUR98AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao" target="_blank">studies resilience in families under stress</a>, I can assure you that no single schooling option guarantees a happy, healthy kid or dooms a child to despair.</p><p>In fact, much more than schooling context, children's mental health relies on high-quality relationships within families.</p>
<p>Spending time with other children can benefit children's mental health, though it's not clear that group settings are necessary to achieve those gains. Some research from before the pandemic found that home-schooled children experience <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2015.1116055" target="_blank">more academic success and better mental health</a> than kids in school, especially when families maintain ties to religious institutions and community groups. Other studies show no differences or suggest that home-schooled children <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.03.007" target="_blank">fall behind their peers</a>. And of course processes within schools during the pandemic will change how children interact.</p><p>No matter what the schooling situation, four key components belong in a child's mental health toolkit. The good news is that parents can support all of these areas as part of in-person, remote, or small-pod learning.</p>
<h2>Connecting Mind and Body: 'What I Need'</h2><p>Mental health and physical health are inextricably linked. Physical activity, good nutrition, and sleep are all crucial for both. Children need <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000433" target="_blank">clear bedtime routines</a> and a consistent schedule — especially during times of unease such as now. Children need to go to bed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cppeds.2016.12.001" target="_blank">at a similar time</a> each evening and wake up at a similar time each morning.</p><p>This guidance applies across ages. Though it's normal for sleep schedules to shift in adolescence, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12373" target="_blank">consistency remains critical</a>. Research increasingly shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-2089F" target="_blank">poor sleep hygiene</a> is a central issue in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems.</p>
<h2>Developing Identity: 'Who I Am'</h2><p>Children of all ages incorporate information from both family members and peers into their sense of identity.</p><p>School exposes students to others with similar and different viewpoints or backgrounds and lets them confront social rules. Research with home-schooled children shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124516677009" target="_blank">interacting with other home-schooled kids</a> is good for their mental health. Peer relationships, especially in adolescence, are related to self-esteem. Overall, positive peer relationships throughout childhood can help students adjust in school, while <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203841198/chapters/10.4324/9780203841198-10" target="_blank">bad experiences leave the strongest mark</a> on mental health.</p><p>But kids' empathy and pro-social behaviors, such as helping someone in need — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.05.005" target="_blank">characteristics they largely learn in their families</a> — help them build and maintain their friendships. If you're worried about kids being isolated while learning remotely, remember that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034306073402" target="_blank">parent-child attachment is the most important</a> source of self-esteem and a positive sense of self for children.</p><p>Focusing on reciprocity is one way families can help kids explore identity. Parents should ask open-ended questions and show curiosity about children's opinions and interests. Family rituals, such as a special weekly dinner, family game night, or a loving bedtime ritual, can support family bonding and help children gain a strong sense of self, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12293" target="_blank">contributing to better mental health</a>. Parents can try to engage in 20 minutes of joyful, focused interaction with their kids each day and consistently observe and promote their children's positive attributes.</p>
<h2>Regulating Emotions: 'How I Feel'</h2><p>Skills that allow children to understand their emotions and make choices about how they respond to them are crucial building blocks of good mental health. Families can practice regulating emotions with their children, supporting strategies to understand and manage frustration, anger, and sadness when those feelings become unmanageable. Experiencing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9015-4" target="_blank">joy and positive emotions</a> supports good mental health.</p><p>Children are likely to experience complex emotions in the coming months. At school, kids may have a hard time separating from family or difficulty when confronted with new safety measures and expectations. In addition, existing school-based risk factors such as bullying may exacerbate mental health issues. Children at home may feel disconnected and pick up on stress within families facing work and income challenges. Ongoing issues in families such as parental mental health problems and family violence can also put children at risk.</p><p>When children face emotions that are unfamiliar, dysregulated behavior — which can include sleeplessness, aggression, or listlessness, for example — may be a first indicator for adults, who can provide emotion coaching. Parents can regularly check in with children to take their "feelings temperature" and suggest ways to practice coping.</p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2010.485090" target="_blank">Outlets for creative expression</a>, such as art, music, and dance can support positive emotional development and coping, as well.</p>
<h2>Recognizing Interdependence: 'Who We Are'</h2><p>A big piece of good mental health is being able to see yourself as a part of a whole.</p><p>The parent-child relationship is the context in which children learn to view themselves as interdependent — a person who is connected to previous generations and present networks.</p><p>Responses to the pandemic can threaten the usual sense of community. To help make up for any isolation, whether because of remote learning or physical distancing measures, families can provide opportunities for children to consider others' feelings and practice giving and receiving emotional support.</p><p>Parents must attend to their own mental health; research shows that if parents struggle with depression, aspects of children's social-emotional development — including building empathy skills and engaging socially — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.12121597" target="_blank">can also suffer</a>.</p>
<h2>Challenges Abound, But the Tools Are Consistent</h2><p>Kids who were vulnerable before the pandemic remain vulnerable. But mental health risk factors are largely the same for children whether <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203841198" target="_blank">in school or learning from home</a>.</p><p>Any changes, even happy ones, can create stress. Good mental health is the ability to adapt. The strategies in this toolkit can help children adapt and cope with stress, whether because of the pandemic, economic inequities, racism, unaddressed special needs, or interpersonal problems within a family.</p><p>Some children <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/reopening-schools.html" target="_blank">need to be in school</a>. They may have complex learning needs, or they might be unsafe at home, and they depend on school to buffer problems at home. But the argument that all children in general <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/what-weve-stolen-our-kids/615211/" target="_blank">must be at school</a> to ward off a mental health crisis is just not true. Wherever and however kids are learning this year, families can support students so they continue developing as mentally healthy individuals.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/families-can-support-kids-mental-health-whether-theyre-learning-remotely-or-at-school-heres-how-144459" target="_blank">The Conversation</a></em><em>.</em><br/></p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144459/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144459/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>From Your Site Articles
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Nine schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania have found legionella bacteria in their drinking water. FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP via Getty Images
In addition to taking precautions against the novel coronavirus, schools across the country find themselves needing to worry about a new scourge: legionella bacteria in their drinking water, according to The New York Times.
<p>Recently, nine schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania found the harmful bacteria in their water. In Fox Chapel, PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh, four out of the town's six schools tested positive for the bacteria. Because the schools were unused for so long, nearly six months, the water just sat in the pipes and did not have a chance to move. That created a condition for the bacteria to thrive, according to <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/back-to-school/legionella-found-water-4-6-fox-chapel-schools-days-before-opening/AEKK5BL2ZRBVTJFRLLGGDM6Y4U/" target="_blank">WPXI News</a> in Pittsburgh.</p><p>According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/legionella/about/causes-transmission.html" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, people get sick when they inhale mist that has the bacteria or they ingest water with the bacteria in it. It can cause severe pneumonia or lung infection, which is worrying when the nation is already grappling with COVID-19, an infectious disease that leads to severe pneumonia.</p>
<p>Similarly, schools outside of Dayton, Ohio found the bacteria in their water last week. In all of those cases, the outbreak was noticed in locations that were far from classrooms or drinking fountains, such as one faucet in a seldom used bathroom, according to <a href="https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/breaking-news-legionella-found-in-oakwood-school/4WXX7O7WZBFRNIQCZJASGPLLQY/" target="_blank">Dayton Daily News</a>.</p><p>"We would have capability to wash hands, we would provide drinking water, we have toilets that are working, and we have the ability to serve lunch," said superintendent Rob O'Leary, defending the district's decision to proceed with in-person instruction and to keep the schools open, as <a href="https://dayton247now.com/news/local/disease-expert-says-legionella-tests-in-schools-should-be-warning-for-all-industries" target="_blank">Dayton 24/7</a> reported.</p><p>O'Leary added that the school district ran disinfectant through all the school's water lines and cleaned the aerators on all of its faucets.</p>
<p>The Milton-Union school district, also in Ohio, received a federal grant to test its water over the summer. It found the bacteria in a drinking fountain and in two faucets on only the cold-water side, according to <a href="https://www.whio.com/news/local/legionella-bacteria-found-milton-union-schools-water-samples/JKGNIEL7GBERJP5OV6UZDBLSG4/" target="_blank">WHIO News</a> in Ohio.</p><p>"Ice machines we tested it all," said Tim Swartztrauber, West Milton Water Supervisor and Chief Inspector to WHIO. "Luckily we did because we did find legionella. We tested every drinking fountain and we got it in a drinking fountain. Without that this probably would have been missed."</p><p>Swartztrauber added that they ran chlorine through the system to disinfect it and then flushed out the chlorine to make the water safe again.</p>
<p>Andrew Whelton, an associate professor of civil, environmental and ecological engineering at Purdue University in Indiana, was involved in the study at the Milton-Union schools and said it would not have been possible without the federal grant. That leaves a question of how many schools across the country are not testing their water because they don't have the funds to do it, according to The New York Times.</p><p>"If somebody contracts legionella and legionnaires disease the exposure can be fatal," Whelton said to WHIO. "So it is serious."</p><p>It's highly unusual for schools to go for such an extended time without use. Even during the summer months, there's often summer school, sports practice, and custodial work being done.</p>
<p>"Schools generally do not have a water management plan," Whelton said to the New York Times. "There's a myth that most do. They don't in my experience."</p><p>Whelton told The New York Times that the bacteria would likely show up with greater prevalence if schools actually conducted tests.</p><p>"If parents haven't heard from their schools about whether or not testing is being conducted, then they should start asking questions," he said.</p>
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A new study found that children living in greener urban areas had higher IQs than children living in less green areas. Imgorthand / Getty Images
One of the best things you can do for your child's well-being may be to raise them somewhere green.
<p>The latest study to examine the positive impacts of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nature" target="_self">nature</a> on children found that children living in greener urban areas had higher IQs than children living in less green areas.</p><p>"There is more and more evidence that green surroundings are associated with our cognitive function, such as memory skills and attention," study coauthor and Hasselt University in Belgium environmental epidemiology professor Tim Nawrot told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/24/children-raised-greener-areas-higher-iq-study?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR3l35tcIn7CwxmJUKt9ROGgw5lJOpaHcQGh__O76mT1xrpEWGt0RIsNLyE" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "What this study adds with IQ is a harder, well-established clinical measure. I think city builders or urban planners should prioritize investment in green spaces because it is really of value to create an optimal environment for children to develop their full potential."</p>
<div id="c0d26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="03960567cbd8baf0b578ce25926363b1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1296116607794794496" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">In their latest publication, Esmée M Bijnens and colleagues reveal beneficial effects of a green environment on a c… https://t.co/vk8uzysUyh</div> — PLOS Medicine (@PLOS Medicine)<a href="https://twitter.com/PLOSMedicine/statuses/1296116607794794496">1597853254.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The research, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003213" target="_blank">published in PLOS Medicine</a> on August 18, looked at 620 children between seven and 15 years old living in urban, suburban and rural parts of Belgium. It used satellite imagery to calculate the amount of green space a child had access to, and then compared this with their scores on intelligence and behavioral assessments, The Guardian explained.</p><p>Children living in urban areas with three percent more greenery scored an average of 2.6 points higher in IQ. They also scored two points lower in a metric of behavioral problems, like aggression and poor attention span.</p><p>The researchers did not find any benefit to additional greenery in suburban and rural environments, perhaps because these areas already had enough baseline greenery to make a difference.</p>
<p>The research builds on other studies that show time in nature benefits children's behavior and mental health. An <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190226112426.htm" target="_blank">Aarhus University study</a> published in February 2019 found that children who grew up with access to green space were 55 percent less likely to develop serious mental disorders later in life. A <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/112/26/7937" target="_blank">2015 study</a> based in Barcelona found that access to green space improved children's cognitive development.</p><p>Another <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953619302291#:~:text=Satellite%2Dimagery%20measures%20of%20greenery,5%2C%2012%2C%20and%2018.&text=Children%20raised%20in%20greener%20neighborhoods%20showed%20greater%20ability%20at%20all%20ages.&text=Children%20raised%20in%20greener%20neighborhoods%20also%20showed%20greater%20growth%20in,from%20age%205%20to%2012." target="_blank">study published in June 2019</a> also looked at satellite images to compare British children's access to nature with their performance on various cognitive tests. At first, it found an association between access to nature and cognitive ability, but it concluded that the children's cognitive performance was better explained by their family and socio-economic status.</p><p>The Belgian study, however, also controlled for the wealth and education levels of the children's parents, and found that access to green space still made a difference.</p>
<p>Exeter University environmental psychologist Dr. Mathew White, who was not involved with the most recent research, told The Guardian it could help create an understanding of intelligence as an environmental issue.</p><p>"I'm always wary of the term intelligence as it has a problematic history and unfortunate associations," he said. "But, if anything, this study might help us move away from seeing intelligence as innate – it could be influenced by environment, and I think that is much more healthy."</p>
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Waste is found dumped at a marsh near the mouth of Neshaminy Creek to the Delaware river in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 6, 2019. Bastiaan Slabbers / NurPhoto / Getty Images
By Melanie Benesh, Legislative Attorney
From the beginning, the Trump administration has aggressively slashed environmental regulations. A New York Times analysis identified 100 environmental protections that have been reversed or are in the process of getting rolled back. The administration's record on chemical safety has been especially hazardous for the health of Americans, especially children.
<p><a href="https://www.ewg.org/planet-trump/2018/01/trump-s-toxic-wake-8-ways-president-made-chemicals-less-safe-2017" target="_blank">One year into President Trump's term,</a> EWG detailed how the Trump administration has stacked the Environmental Protection Agency with industry lawyers and lobbyists, undermined worker safety and cooked the books on chemical safety assessments. <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2018/05/13-ways-pruitt-s-epa-has-made-your-life-more-toxic" target="_blank">Midway through his second year,</a> we reported how the EPA reversed a ban on a brain-damaging pesticide, delayed chemical bans and killed a rule to protect kids from toxic PCBs in schools. <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2019/08/10-ways-trump-has-undermined-chemical-safety" target="_blank">Last year,</a> we reported that the EPA had rescinded safety rules at chemical plants, rubber-stamped untested new chemicals and silenced researchers.</p><p>As Trump's first term nears its end, things are even worse. Here are 10 more ways the Trump administration has continued to make life more toxic for Americans.</p>
1. Failed to Aggressively Regulate Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’
<p>The toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS contaminate <a href="https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/" target="_blank">more than 2,200 sites</a> across the nation. Because they never break down in the environment, PFAS are often called "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/these-toxic-chemicals-are-everywhere-and-they-wont-ever-go-away/2018/01/02/82e7e48a-e4ee-11e7-a65d-1ac0fd7f097e_story.html" target="_blank">forever chemicals</a>." They build up in our bodies and are linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental harms and reduced effectiveness of vaccines. Even though the EPA has known about the risks from PFAS chemicals <a href="https://www.ewg.org/epa-pfas-timeline/" target="_blank">since at least 1998</a>, they remain virtually unregulated.</p><p>In February 2019, the EPA released a toothless PFAS "action plan" that lacked deadlines for action and failed to address the use of PFAS in everyday products, contamination from PFAS air emissions or disposal of PFAS waste, among other concerns. A year and a half later, key goals from the plan, including regulating PFAS under the Superfund law and setting drinking water standards, remain unfulfilled.</p><p>When Congress stepped in and sought to designate PFOA and PFOS – the two most notorious and well-studied PFAS – as "hazardous substances" and to set deadlines for agency action, Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SAP_HR-535.pdf" target="_blank">threatened a veto</a>. Trump's EPA also <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/07/27/2020-13738/long-chain-perfluoroalkyl-carboxylate-and-perfluoroalkyl-sulfonate-chemical-substances-significant" target="_blank">weakened a rule</a> designed to regulate <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2020/06/final-decision-epa-fails-protect-public-toxic-forever-chemicals-consumer" target="_blank">PFAS in consumer products</a>.</p>2. Allowed a Rocket Fuel Chemical to Stay in Drinking Water
<p>Perchlorate is a component of rocket fuel that also frequently contaminates drinking water sources. Perchlorate can interfere with thyroid function, which can also harm <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2017/11/kids-still-risk-rocket-fuel-chemical-food-and-water" target="_blank">childhood brain development</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-02-11/html/2011-2603.htm" target="_blank">Almost a decade ago,</a> the EPA determined that these harms warranted regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The agency then dragged its feet for years. In 2016, the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2016/160218" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council sued</a> to force the EPA to finally set a legal limit for perchlorate in drinking water. In a <a href="https://www.freshlawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2016/12/Doc-38-Consent-Decree.pdf" target="_blank">court-approved consent decree</a>, the EPA agreed to propose a standard by October 2018 and finalize it by 2019. However, the EPA sought extensions and failed to meet these deadlines.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/06/26/2019-12773/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations-perchlorate" target="_blank">EPA finally proposed a drinking water standard</a> in June 2019 but also suggested that it might not regulate perchlorate after all. <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/07/21/2020-13462/drinking-water-final-action-on-perchlorate" target="_blank">A year later, </a>the EPA withdrew its decision to regulate perchlorate in drinking water.</p>3. Allowed Scores of New Chemicals, Including New Toxic PFAS, Onto the Market Without Adequate Oversight
<p>In 2016, Congress substantially changed the way new chemicals are approved under the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2016/05/new-tsca-bill-falls-short-protecting-americans-toxic-chemicals#.WwLUddMvwWo" target="_blank">Toxic Substances Control Act</a>, or TSCA.</p><p>Under the old law, chemicals were frequently approved by default, often <a href="https://www.ewg.org/research/off-the-books-ii-more-secret-chemicals/new-chemicals" target="_blank">without any health and safety information</a>. As a result, unsafe chemicals were allowed to be used for years or decades before the health and environmental hazards came to light. Inadequate oversight of new chemicals can also lead to <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/harmful-chemicals-removed-from-products-often-replaced-with-something-as-bad-or-worse/" target="_blank">regrettable substitution</a> – when chemicals are finally found to be unsafe, they are often replaced by unstudied chemicals that may be just as or even more toxic.</p><p>The 2016 update was supposed to fix the new chemicals program by requiring the EPA to make an affirmative safety finding on new chemicals and restrict use if industry failed to provide sufficient safety data. Nonetheless, the Trump EPA has approved scores of new chemicals in a process that <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/health/2019/12/09/when-will-epa-fully-explain-and-legally-justify-its-reviews-of-new-chemicals-under-tsca/" target="_blank">lacks transparency</a> and <a href="https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/20200317_comms_pc_tsca_english_final.pdf" target="_blank">contravenes the 2016 law</a>. The EPA has also <a href="https://www.edf.org/blog/2018/09/05/trumps-epa-flouting-law-when-approving-new-chemicals-here-are-3-examples" target="_blank">ignored known health concerns</a>, <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/health/2019/02/21/the-trump-epa-is-throwing-workers-facing-risks-from-new-tsca-chemicals-under-the-bus/" target="_blank">limited its consideration of worker risks</a> and <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/health/2019/06/03/the-trump-epa-is-illegally-denying-requests-for-public-files-on-new-chemicals/" target="_blank">denied requests for public files</a> in the new chemicals program.</p><p>The EPA has also exploited loopholes in the new law to quickly approve new chemicals, including toxic PFAS. <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/health/2020/07/28/greasing-the-skids-the-trump-epa-is-green-lighting-dozens-of-new-pfas-under-tsca/" target="_blank">A recent investigation</a> found that the EPA has been quietly approving new PFAS chemicals, through a provision known as the low volume exemption in the new chemicals program. As a result, the EPA is greenlighting new PFAS chemicals on an expedited basis, without public scrutiny. One PFAS, <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/health/2020/01/27/what-connects-cross-country-skiing-and-chemical-safety/" target="_blank">used in ski wax</a>, was approved despite a finding that the chemical could "waterproof the lungs," resulting in severe health impacts.</p><p>Since the law was updated in 2016, the EPA has reviewed more than <a href="https://www.epa.gov/reviewing-new-chemicals-under-toxic-substances-control-act-tsca/statistics-new-chemicals-review" target="_blank">3,000 new chemicals</a> submissions. More than 1,000 of these chemicals have been approved through the low volume exemption, and since 2016, manufacturers have begun producing at least 900 new chemicals, many without adequate safety data. Environmental groups have <a href="https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/final_filed_complaint.pdf" target="_blank">sued the EPA</a> over its failures to protect the public and the environment from risks from new chemicals. </p>4. Failed to Protect Workers From a Deadly Paint-Stripping Chemical
<p>Methylene chloride is a highly toxic chemical used in paint strippers that is responsible for <a href="https://saferchemicals.org/us-deaths-from-methylene-chloride/" target="_blank">more than 60 deaths</a> since 1980. In the final days of the Obama administration, the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0231-0001" target="_blank">EPA proposed a ban</a> on "methylene chloride for consumer and most types of commercial paint and coating removal."</p><p>After significant pressure from <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epa-reconsiders-ban-on-potentially-lethal-paint-stripper-chemical-methylene-chloride/" target="_blank">families who lost loved ones</a> due to methylene chloride exposure, the Trump EPA eventually issued a final rule in 2019. However, the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-bans-consumer-sales-methylene-chloride-paint-removers-protecting-public" target="_blank">EPA narrowed the rule</a> so that it would apply only to consumer<em> uses</em> of methylene chloride, not commercial uses. That means workers are not protected, even though a <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/workers-rights/epa-restricts-sales-of-deadly-paint-strippers-after-years-of-delays/" target="_blank">Center for Public Integrity investigation</a> found that most deaths from methylene chloride take place at work.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/final-risk-evaluation-methylene-chloride" target="_blank">separate EPA evaluation</a> of methylene chloride found that manufacturing, disposal and several other uses of methylene chloride pose no "unreasonable risk." Environmental groups have filed lawsuits challenging <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2019/trump-s-epa-sued-for-leaving-workers-exposed-to-deadly-chemical-in-paint-strippers" target="_blank">the rule</a> and the <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/trumps-epa-sued-over-understating-risks-of-deadly-chemical" target="_blank">recent evaluation</a>.</p>5. Cooked the Books on the “Civil Action” Chemical
<p>Trichloroethylene is a chemical solvent made infamous by the book and movie "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3PHjIly2N0" target="_blank">A Civil Action</a>." The EPA considers it to be a known carcinogen, and it is one of the primary contaminants that sickened scores of veterans who served at <a href="https://psmag.com/environment/what-happened-at-camp-lejeune" target="_blank">Camp Lejeune</a>, in North Carolina.</p><p>As with methylene chloride, in the final days of the Obama administration, the EPA proposed banning three uses of TCE: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0163-0001" target="_blank">spot cleaning, aerosol degreasing</a> and <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0387-0001" target="_blank">vapor degreasing</a>. In December 2017, the Trump EPA <a href="https://www.ewg.org/release/trump-epa-indefinitely-delays-bans-deadly-chemicals" target="_blank">shelved these proposed bans</a>, claiming that it would study those uses in a separate ongoing risk evaluation of TCE.</p><p>However, the EPA dramatically rewrote the accepted science on TCE in the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/draft-risk-evaluation-trichloroethylene" target="_blank">draft risk evaluation</a> released in February. As <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2018/06/industry-s-behest-epa-caves-banning-civil-action-carcinogen-lays-ground" target="_blank">EWG warned</a> in 2018, the solvents industry aggressively lobbied the EPA to ignore a key <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1241384/" target="_blank">2003 study</a> finding that TCE causes heart deformities in developing fetuses. TCE's connection with fetal heart defects was an important basis for the Obama EPA's decision to ban three uses of TCE. An <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890623816303240#bib0190" target="_blank">independent review</a> of the EPA's science found that "prenatal exposure to TCE can cause human cardiac defects" and that the study "remains a valid choice" for assessing risk.</p><p>The lobbyists succeeded. The EPA's draft risk evaluation questioned the study's design and minimized its significance. An <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/article/epa-scientists-found-a-toxic-chemical-damages-fetal-hearts-the-trump-white-house-rewrote-their-assessment/" target="_blank">investigation by Reveal News</a> compared the draft risk evaluation with a leaked earlier draft. It found that the earlier draft had relied extensively on the 2003 study and used it as a benchmark for the risk calculations. Reveal also reported that then-EPA chemicals safety chief Nancy Beck – "<a href="https://www.ewg.org/planet-trump/2017/05/scariest-trump-appointee-you-ve-never-heard" target="_blank">the scariest Trump appointee you've never heard of</a>" – ordered that the risk evaluation be rewritten to downplay the risks of TCE. With the EPA giving significantly less weight to risks from fetal heart deformities, it's unlikely the agency will finalize the proposed bans.</p>6. Pressured EPA Scientists to Drop Evaluations of Toxic Chemicals – Including Formaldehyde
<p>The Trump EPA is undermining the work of independent scientists within the Integrated Risk Information System program, known as IRIS. The program's work is supposed to be impartial and non-political. Its scientific assessments are intended to support the work of other EPA program offices and regional offices. IRIS is a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/03/epa-iris-toxic-chemicals/" target="_blank">frequent target of chemical industry attacks</a> because its independent safety assessments often don't align with industry objectives.</p><p>In 2018, the Trump EPA tried to <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3534381/Combined.pdf" target="_blank">defund</a> the IRIS program. EPA leadership also pressured IRIS to drop critical health assessments. In March 2019, <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/697212.pdf" target="_blank">a Government Accountability Office report</a> disclosed that EPA leadership directed agency offices to limit the number of chemicals they wanted IRIS to review, and cut in half the number of IRIS's ongoing or upcoming assessments.</p><p>One of the halted assessments was IRIS's decades-long review of formaldehyde, a widely used chemical and <a href="https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/content/profiles/formaldehyde.pdf" target="_blank">known human carcinogen</a>. This is surprising because former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt indicated to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in January 2018 that the report was complete and <a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Pruitt%20Letter%20formaldehyde%20assessment.pdf" target="_blank">ready for release</a>. However, answering <a href="https://www.eenews.net/assets/2019/01/29/document_pm_02.pdf" target="_blank">questions for the record</a> following a 2019 Senate hearing, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said formaldehyde was "not a top priority."</p><p>Instead of releasing the IRIS study on formaldehyde to the public, the EPA has instead decided that the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention – under the leadership of Nancy Beck – should <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-finalizes-list-next-20-chemicals-undergo-risk-evaluation-under-tsca" target="_blank">conduct its own assessment</a> of formaldehyde. As with TCE, this action will give the agency an opportunity to distort the science and minimize risks. Because these reviews take years, it will also significantly delay any EPA regulatory action on formaldehyde.</p>7. Rolled Back Clean Water Protections
<p>Industrial chemical pollutants are often discharged into drinking water supplies. But the Trump administration has made it a priority to roll back the<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/06/29/2015-13435/clean-water-rule-definition-of-waters-of-the-united-states" target="_blank"> Clean Water Rule,</a> which more clearly defined which kinds of bodies of water are subject to the Clean Water Act. EWG's analysis found that the Clean Water Rule, if implemented as proposed by the Obama administration, would have protected drinking water sources for more than <a href="https://www.ewg.org/research/trump-plan-gut-stream-protections-imperils-tap-water-117-million-americans" target="_blank">117 million Americans</a>.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/31/politics/epa-science-board/index.html" target="_blank">EPA's own science advisors</a> have opposed the rollback of the Clean Water Rule, but the Trump administration <a href="https://www.ewg.org/release/trump-completes-repeal-clean-water-rule-imperiling-drinking-water-sources-117m-people" target="_blank">repealed</a> it in 2019, <a href="https://www.ewg.org/release/trump-administration-finalizes-repeal-pollution-rule-threatening-drinking-water-sources-117" target="_blank">proposed its own rule</a> in January and <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/21/2020-02500/the-navigable-waters-protection-rule-definition-of-waters-of-the-united-states" target="_blank">finalized it</a> in April. The new rule covers far fewer bodies of water and would leave 234,000 miles of small streams unprotected. EWG estimates that at least 72 million Americans draw at least half their drinking water from small streams.</p><p>Because of the repeal, those bodies of water will no longer be subject to pollution limits. Protection for small and seasonal streams and wetlands is important because they often flow into larger bodies of water, including sources of drinking water. Polluted drinking water sources <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2017/03/17/judge-dismisses-water-works-nitrates-lawsuit/99327928/" target="_blank">strain municipal water utilities</a> tasked with filtering out contaminants regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and risk exposing the public to more <a href="https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/state-of-american-drinking-water.php" target="_blank">contaminants that aren't regulated</a> under the act.</p>8. Cooked the Books on Asbestos
<p>Asbestos is a highly toxic, naturally occurring chemical linked to a particularly deadly form of cancer called <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mesothelioma/symptoms-causes/syc-20375022" target="_blank">mesothelioma</a>. An estimated <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/search?authors=Jukka%20Takala&orcid=0000-0001-5722-7052" target="_blank">40,000 Americans</a> die every year from asbestos-related diseases. Although the toxicity of asbestos is well understood, the EPA has never actually banned most uses. The EPA attempted a ban in 1989, but most of the rule was overturned by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6165892895625819539&q=corrosion+proof+fittings+v+epa&hl=en&as_sdt=20006" target="_blank">the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1991.</a></p><p>After Congress reformed TSCA in 2016, the EPA announced that asbestos would be one of the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/research/under-new-safety-law-epa-picks-first-10-chemicals-review" target="_blank">first 10 chemicals</a> reviewed under the new law. Many hoped that this time, the EPA would finally ban asbestos.</p><p>Instead, when the EPA released its <a href="https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/draft-risk-evaluation-asbestos" target="_blank">draft risk evaluation</a> in May, it found that several uses of asbestos, including import of asbestos and asbestos-containing products and distribution of asbestos-containing products, did not pose an unreasonable risk. The EPA made its risk determinations by ignoring exposure from "legacy" uses of asbestos, such as old insulation and building tiles. Although in November the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/release/court-trump-epa-acted-unlawfully-refusing-consider-legacy-use-asbestos-lead" target="_blank">Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals</a> ordered the EPA to fix this error, it has yet to do so.</p><p>Instead of banning asbestos, in April 2019 the EPA <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/04/25/2019-08154/restrictions-on-discontinued-uses-of-asbestos-significant-new-use-rule" target="_blank">published a rule</a> requiring notice and approval before manufacturers could resume using it in some applications the agency considered abandoned. However, <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/815-e-p-a-memos-on-asbestos/12c87a96be998db10048/optimized/full.pdf#page=1" target="_blank">leaked documents</a> show that more than a dozen EPA staffers urged an outright ban on asbestos instead.</p>9. Proposed a Loophole for Toxic Air Pollution
<p>In July 2019, the <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/07/26/2019-14252/reclassification-of-major-sources-as-area-sources-under-section-112-of-the-clean-air-act" target="_blank">Trump EPA proposed to reverse</a> a longstanding policy requiring large power plants, refineries and other industrial polluters to always meet certain strict controls, even after reducing emissions. The new rule creates a loophole in the Clean Air Act regulations that would allow large industrial facilities to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-02/documents/reclassification_of_major_sources_as_area_sources_under_section_112_of_the_clean_air_act.pdf" target="_blank">reclassify themselves</a>, from "major sources" of air pollution to "area sources."</p><p>That change would allow them to opt out of strict pollution control standards, called "maximum achievable control technology," and substantially increase their emissions of dangerous air pollutants. EPA's own data shows that more than <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-07-26/pdf/2019-14252.pdf" target="_blank">3,900 large facilities</a> that <a href="https://www.epa.gov/haps/initial-list-hazardous-air-pollutants-modifications" target="_blank">emit pollutants like mercury and benzene</a> could take advantage of this loophole. <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2020/02/19/epa-data-emphasizes-danger-of-trump-administrations-air-toxics-loophole/?conversion_pg=www.momscleanairforce.org%2Fthe-racism-of-the-epa-agenda%2F" target="_blank">The Environmental Defense Fund</a> estimates the loophole could increase toxic air emissions by as much as 480 percent, or almost 50 million pounds per year. </p><p>This rollback is especially alarming in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic. Studies have found that people who live in areas with <a href="https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2020/07/17/why-air-pollution-is-linked-to-severe-cases-of-covid-19/" target="_blank">high levels of air pollution</a> are at greater risk for severe cases of COVID-19.</p>10. Continuing Its Quest to Censor Science
<p>In 2018, the EPA <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/04/30/2018-09078/strengthening-transparency-in-regulatory-science" target="_blank">proposed a disastrous rule</a> significantly limiting the kinds of science the agency can rely on to justify environmental regulations. The rule would have prohibited the agency from using studies that don't make their underlying data publicly available or whose results can't be replicated. That change would prevent the EPA from including in its future risk assessments most <a href="https://www.aaas.org/news/scientific-medical-academic-groups-urge-epa-drop-transparency-rule" target="_blank">human health studies</a>, because personal medical data must remain confidential. The rule would undermine studies that are foundational to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/11/climate/epa-science-trump.html" target="_blank">clean air regulations</a>.</p><p>The proposal sparked enormous opposition from scientists, academics and environmental health advocates. More than 600,000 public comments were submitted to the agency, the vast majority in opposition. In September 2019, the EPA dropped the proposal from its regulatory agenda. </p><p>But the Trump EPA is at it again. In March, the agency issued a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-03/documents/supplemental_notice_of_strengthening_transparency_in_regulatory_science.pdf" target="_blank">supplemental proposal</a> that is actually <a href="https://www.ewg.org/testimony-official-correspondence/ewg-comments-epa-strengthening-transparency-regulatory-science" target="_blank">worse than</a> the original proposal. The 2018 proposal applied to all "dose response" studies, but the new proposal applies to all studies. The new proposal also applies retroactively, which means the EPA could use it to gut existing regulations.</p><p>As these actions – and dozens of others – show, the Trump EPA has aggressively worked to erode and eliminate vital environmental and public health protections. The public needs an EPA that will prioritize people and planet over polluters and profit.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Young people party on a rooftop in Kips Bay as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus, on Aug. 1, 2020 in New York City. Noam Galai / Getty Images
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a blunt warning as many schools and universities around the world grapple with how to reopen safely: young people are the main spreaders of the coronavirus, according to a news briefing hosted by the WHO on Tuesday.
<p>"People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving the spread," Takeshi Kasai, the WHO's Western Pacific regional director, said at the briefing. "The epidemic is changing."</p><p>Many colleges are noticing that trend anecdotally. Just after re-opening for in person education, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill had to transition to remote learning after outbreaks occurred in fraternities and residence halls. The University of Notre Dame in Indiana also announced that it was going fully remote for the next two weeks after a surge of infections around campus.</p><p>"In just the past week (Aug. 10-16), we have seen COVID-19 positivity rate rise from 2.8 percent to 13.6 percent at Campus Health," said Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Vice Chancellor Robert Brown in a letter about a week after classes started, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/19/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. "As of this morning, we have tested 954 students and have 177 in isolation and 349 in quarantine, both on and off campus," the letter said.</p>
<p>At Appalachian State University, a cluster of positive cases was found around the football team. Iowa State University identified 175 positive cases when students were moving in, according to CNN. Michigan State University also said it will go remote for the first semester after 187 students tested positive for the virus.</p><p>The surge in cases among those considered least at-risk is happening around the world, according to the WHO. In the Philippines and in Australia, more than half the confirmed cases are from people under 40. In Japan, 65 percent of positive infections were from people in the first half of their lives as well, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/who-warns-young-people-are-emerging-as-main-spreaders-of-the-coronavirus/2020/08/18/1822ee92-e18f-11ea-b69b-64f7b0477ed4_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>The findings from the WHO echo a July 2020 study from South Korea, which found that teens and tweens were the most likely to spread the novel coronavirus, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/covid-19-spread-children-teenagers-2646438828.html">EcoWatch</a> reported at the time.</p>
<p>The WHO findings were based on an analysis of roughly 6 million international cases that spanned from late February to mid-July. The numbers showed an uptick in the proportion of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/childrens-health">children</a> and young adults infected.</p><p>"While we see differences across regions, we do see a consistent shift towards more younger people being reported among COVID-19 cases," the WHO told <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/young-people-driving-coronavirus-spread-warns-200818064858693.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a>.</p><p>The largest increase was observed in the 15-24 age group, which grew from grew from 4.5 to 15 percent of the total positive infections in the data set, according to Al Jazeera.</p><p>"This increases the risk of spillovers to the most vulnerable: the elderly, the sick, people in long-term care, people who live in densely populated urban areas and underserved rural areas," Kasai said, as The Washington Post reported.</p>
<p>The recent uptick in cases in the Asia-Pacific region has been alarming for officials. Recently, both Vietnam and New Zealand, which seemed to have the virus under control and had gone months without a new case, saw a new cluster of infections, according to <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7283327/coronavirus-young-people-who/" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p><p>"What we are observing is not simply a resurgence. We believe it's a signal that we have entered a new phase of pandemic in the Asia-Pacific," Kasai said, as Reuters reported.</p><p>"We just need to make sure the message is getting out, particularly to young people, particularly to children and young adults, that you are not invulnerable to this and you can get infected," said Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO's emerging disease and zoonosis unit, as The Washington Post reported. "We are seeing young people who are dying from this virus."</p>
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Black Infants More Likely to Survive if Treated by Black Doctors, Study Finds
18 August
Health + Wellness
Outcomes for Black babies are better if they are treated by Black doctors, a study has found. Mongkolchon Akesin / Getty Images
Childbirth in the U.S. is simply more dangerous for Black babies. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study published last year, for example, found that Black babies were twice as likely to die before their first birthday when compared with white, Asian and Hispanic babies.
<p>But new research <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/08/12/1913405117" target="_blank">published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> Monday has uncovered a factor that might contribute to this disparity.</p><p>"Findings suggest that when Black newborns are cared for by Black physicians, the mortality penalty they suffer, as compared with White infants, is halved," the researchers wrote.</p><p>To reach their conclusion, the study authors analyzed the records of 1.8 million Florida hospital births between 1992 and 2015 and discovered the race of the attending physician, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/512439-study-black-newborns-more-likely-to-survive-when-cared-for-by-black-doctors" target="_blank">The Hill reported</a>. They found that, when the doctor in charge was white, Black babies were three times more likely to die than white babies. But when the doctor was Black, that mortality rate was cut in half.</p><p>The effect was strongest in complicated births and in hospitals that delivered more Black infants, the researchers found.</p>
<p>While Black mothers are two to three times <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p0905-racial-ethnic-disparities-pregnancy-deaths.html" target="_blank">more likely</a> to die due to pregnancy complications than white mothers, the researchers found no statistically significant impact of the doctor's race on the mother's chances of survival.</p><p>The findings are the latest evidence that racism <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/racism-public-health-emergency-2646173766.html" target="_self">plays a major role</a> in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> outcomes.</p><p>The findings suggest there may be more trust between Black doctors and patients, or that Black doctors may be more aware of the factors that put Black infants at greater risk, lead study author of George Mason University Brad Greenwood told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/17/black-babies-survival-black-doctors-study?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0_MrqZwCadG44Yja9iL6w7Ms3kFf7NJPOVQ2VvWgyY9NGavBWNQ2yv330#Echobox=1597705110" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>On the other hand, white doctors may be acting out of unconscious bias when treating Black mothers and babies.</p>
<p>The findings highlight the importance of increasing diversity in the medical field, Greenwood said. Currently, only five percent of U.S. doctors are Black.</p><p>"Inasmuch as research suggests stereotyping and implicit bias contribute to racial disparities in health outcomes, the work also highlights the need for hospitals and other care organizations to invest in efforts to reduce such biases and explore their connection to institutional racism," Greenwood told The Guardian.</p>
<p>The findings mirror the experience of doctors in the field. When Black hospital obstetricians were contracted to treat uninsured mothers and babies in Eastern Michigan, the mortality disparity between Black and white babies fell significantly. Black babies were five times more likely to die in 1980 and only 1.4 times more likely to die by the mid to late 1990s.</p><p>"As black physicians we attended the same churches, barber shops, beauty salons, our children attended the same schools … this sense of community cultivates an entirely different level of relationship and accountability. The feeling that your provider genuinely cared for you is important … and, in my opinion, is more easily realized when racial concordance and genuine relationship is present," one of the doctors involved, Dr. Arthur James, told The Guardian. "Kudos to the authors for raising an important and often overlooked potential contributor to improved birth outcomes."</p>
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97,000 U.S. Kids Test Positive for COVID-19 on the Brink of Schools Reopening
10 August
Health + Wellness
Teachers and activists attend a protest hosted by Chicago Teachers Union in Chicago, Illinois on Aug. 3, 2020 to demand classroom safety measures as schools debate reopening. KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP via Getty Images
The coronavirus cases surging around the U.S. are often carried by kids, raising fears that the reopening of schools will be delayed and calling into question the wisdom of school districts that have reopened already.
<p>A new study found that more than 97,000 children around the country tested newly positive for the virus by the end of July, marking a 40 percent increase in the number of infected children, according to <a href="https://downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/AAP%20and%20CHA%20-%20Children%20and%20COVID-19%20State%20Data%20Report%207.30.20%20FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" title="">a new report</a> from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/10/world/coronavirus-covid-19.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage#link-7910c8ff" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>The report says that at least 338,000 children had tested positive through July 30, meaning more than a quarter tested positive in just the two weeks between July 15 and the end of the month.</p>
<p>The eye-popping data that the medical organizations compiled comes during back-to-school season as health officials are trying to understand the effects of the virus on children and the role young people play in its spread. Some schools have begun welcoming crowds back to class and others have had to readjust their reopening plans in response to infections. North Paulding High School near Atlanta, Georgia <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/georgia-high-school-students-covid-2646917231.html" target="_self">made headlines for its packed hallways</a> and has abruptly shifted to online instruction after there were nine positive cases in the school — three among staff and six among students, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/10/health/us-coronavirus-monday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>The report cited data from 49 states, New York City, Washington, Puerto Rico and Guam, most of which defined children as younger than 19 years old, though some states defined children as only up to 14, while Alabama defined it as up to 24.</p>
<p>While children make up a small fraction of the number of positive coronavirus cases in the U.S., their portion is growing. According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/08/09/study-coronavirus-cases-children-rise-sharply-second-half-july-with-more-than-97000-infections/?hpid=hp_hp-banner-main_virus-children-503am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>, while children were only 2 percent of cases nationwide in April, they now account for 8.8 percent.</p><p>The numbers of children affected followed the national trend, with large upticks in the South and Southwest, and much smaller numbers in the Northeast, where the virus is much more in control. New York City, New Jersey and other Northeastern states had the lowest number of childhood infections, according to the report.</p><p>Seven out of 10 new pediatric cases were reported in southern and western states, according to the paper, as the The Washington Post reported. Northeastern states saw much more limited growth in children's cases. Arizona reported the most cases per 100,000 children, with more than 1,000 on July 30. Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee were the only other states with more than 800 cases per 100,000.</p>
<p>There were limitations, though, since the report did not include complete data from Texas or parts of New York State outside New York City, according to The New York Times. While they didn't have the highest overall numbers, Missouri, Oklahoma, Alaska, Nevada, Idaho and Montana were among the states with the highest percentage increases of child infections during that period, according to the report.</p><p>Vanderbilt University's Dr. Tina Hartert told <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-kids-school-children-coronavirus-in-person-instruction/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> that she hopes increased testing of children will help determine what role they play in transmission, as school districts around the country return to some form of school. She is leading a government-funded study that sent DIY testing kits to roughly 2,000 families.</p><p>"The kits are shipped to the families, they are taught how to collect these samples, and then the samples are sent back by the families to a central repository," she said.</p>
<p>Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City, the nation's largest school district, announced a return to in-person schooling in the fall and pledged officials "have worked incessantly to get this right," according to CBS News.</p><p>"They've looked at examples from all over the world of what will keep the school community safe, and they've made a series of choices of how to do things from the health and safety lens first, while also making sure we can educate our kids," he said in a Friday press conference.</p>
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As Schools Reopen, Georgia Students Suspended for Blowing the Whistle on Crowded Hallways
07 August
Health + Wellness
Hannah Watters wrote on Twitter that she was suspended for posting a video and photo of crowded hallways at her high school. hannah @ihateiceman
As the debate over how and if to safely reopen schools in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic continues, two student whistleblowers have been caught in the crosshairs.
<p>The students, who attend North Paulding High School in Georgia, told <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/laurenstrapagiel/north-paulding-high-school-suspensions-for-hallway-photos?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bffbbuzzfeedvideo&ref=bffbbuzzfeedvideo&" target="_blank"><u>BuzzFeed News</u></a> they were suspended for posting videos of crowded hallways on social media.</p><p>"Day two at North Paulding High School. It is just as bad. We were stopped because it was jammed," 15-year-old Hannah Watters wrote in the Twitter post that accompanied a photo she took. "We are close enough to the point where I got pushed multiple go to second block. This is not ok. Not to mention the 10% mask rate."</p>
<div id="d143c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4612c650da5606ed7270b92ccc8b9ba4"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1290728743263252480" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Day two at North Paulding High School. It is just as bad. We were stopped because it was jammed. We are close enoug… https://t.co/x0k2JLqEFk</div> — hannah (@hannah)<a href="https://twitter.com/ihateiceman/statuses/1290728743263252480">1596568687.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Watters said she received a five day, out-of-school suspension for sharing a video and photo of the conditions. Another student, who asked to remain anonymous, also said they were suspended for tweeting photos of hallway crowding.</p><p>The school told Watters she had been suspended on three grounds: using her phone without permission, using it to post on social media and posting pictures of minors without their consent.</p><p>However, Watters <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/07/us/georgia-teen-photo-crowded-school-hallway-trnd/index.html" target="_blank"><u>told CNN</u></a> that the rules against phone use do not apply to students in grades nine through 12 and that she posted the video and photo after school. She acknowledged that she broke the rule against posting photos of other students.</p><p>"I'd like to say this is some good and necessary trouble," Watters told CNN. "My biggest concern is not only about me being safe, it's about everyone being safe because behind every teacher, student and staff member there is a family, there are friends, and I would just want to keep everyone safe."</p><p>Watters' wasn't the first image of crowding at the high school to go viral. That honor goes to a photo shared by the account @Freeyourmindkid, according to BuzzFeed News. It is not clear who took the image or if they were penalized.</p>
<div id="9ccc4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c0ec871de71a27b1357a35e0c1f2e455"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1290626349426671617" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This is the first day of school in Paulding County, Georgia. https://t.co/fzdidaAABM</div> — 🇯🇲Black🇭🇹Aziz🇳🇬aNANsi🇹🇹 (@🇯🇲Black🇭🇹Aziz🇳🇬aNANsi🇹🇹)<a href="https://twitter.com/Freeyourmindkid/statuses/1290626349426671617">1596544275.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The photos of hallway crowding at North Paulding High School have emerged as a symbol for the difficulties of safely reopening schools, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/us/north-paulding-high-school-coronavirus-georgia.html" target="_blank"><u>The New York Times pointed out</u></a>. Schools that have reopened for in-person instruction in Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Indiana have had to impose quarantines and sometimes close classrooms or whole schools in response to new cases. In another Georgia school, for example, an entire second-grade class had to quarantine for two weeks after one of its students tested positive for COVID-19 on the second day, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-georgia-second-grader-covid-19-positive-test/" target="_blank"><u>CBS News reported</u></a>.</p><p>Paulding County School District superintendent Brian Otott defended the district's decision to reopen in a <a href="https://dam.tmz.com/document/a6/o/2020/08/04/a64748a740a84d25abbaf08e5be5e9be.pdf" target="_blank"><u>letter</u></a> and said the photos were taken out of context. He said they were taken during the "brief" period when high school students change classes and he noted that the Department of Public Health said people catch COVID-19 after being within six feet of an infected person for 15 minutes.</p><p>"Class changes at the high school level are a challenge when maintaining a specific schedule. It is an area we are continuing to work on in this new environment to find practicable ways to further limit students from congregating," he wrote.</p><p>The district has also come under fire for its mask policy. Instead of requiring their use, it considers mask-wearing a "personal choice," BuzzFeed News reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends mask use, however.</p><p>Watters also took a tally of how many students in her classes wore masks each day.</p>
<div id="f9c6f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ef4bc65f296bdccb05e99b0c6b04abcb"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1291132959131611137" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">https://t.co/UvJoLjpq5N</div> — hannah (@hannah)<a href="https://twitter.com/ihateiceman/statuses/1291132959131611137">1596665060.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In every class, a majority of students chose not to wear masks. </p>
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President Trump signs an executive order regulating social media on May 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. Doug Mills-Pool / Getty Images
Facebook and Twitter removed posts by President Donald Trump and his campaign Wednesday for violating their policies against spreading false information about COVID-19.
<p>The offending posts both shared a link to a video in which Trump claimed that children are "almost immune" to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-trump/facebook-twitter-pull-trump-posts-over-coronavirus-misinformation-idUSKCN25136Y?fbclid=IwAR3irRfp4TbdXzi9QJPwT2zlOTR1RbPybVaYok0gNYGKamR_7jMgLkTW-q0&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. Facebook said it was the first time it had removed a post by the president for sharing coronavirus misinformation.</p><p>"This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation," Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone told <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/05/899558311/facebook-removes-trump-post-over-false-claim-about-children-and-covid-19?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR3fI3uSsERYZnMc02kZg6EyEv43sCbTSHLz65rabasUg1LG1P2P_AhY7sc" target="_blank">NPR</a> of the social media giant's decision.</p><p>Facebook removed the post from the President's own page, while Twitter removed a post of the video shared from the Trump campaign account @TeamTrump.</p><p>"The @TeamTrump Tweet you referenced is in violation of the Twitter Rules on <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/An-update-on-our-continuity-strategy-during-COVID-19.html__;!!Iwwt!DYFZLtq_zq5IqF-xREGa5P1jGVOACsXYLdUrMDtAvCQvBg3zVAWyR3hkJME%24" target="_blank">COVID-19 misinformation</a>. The account owner will be required to<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/enforcement-options__;!!Iwwt!DYFZLtq_zq5IqF-xREGa5P1jGVOACsXYLdUrMDtAvCQvBg3zVAWyGr9epH8%24" target="_blank"> remove the Tweet</a> before they can Tweet again," Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy told NPR.</p>
<p>The campaign complied and is now tweeting again.</p><p>The video contained a clip from a Fox News interview Trump gave Wednesday morning, in which he argued for schools to reopen.</p><p>"If you look at children, children are almost — and I would almost say definitely — but almost immune from this disease," Trump told "Fox & Friends," according to a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/politics/fact-check-trump-fox-friends-pandemic-biden-protests/index.html" target="_blank">CNN fact check of the interview</a>. "They don't have a problem. They just don't have a problem."</p><p>But CNN's Daniel Dale explained why that wasn't true.</p>
<p>"While children are, on the whole, less likely to get seriously ill or die from the coronavirus than adults are, they are certainly not 'immune,'" he wrote. "Children get infected, transmit the virus, and do sometimes get seriously ill or die."</p><p>The World Health Organization found that children aged five to 14 years old made up 4.6 percent of 6 million infections between Feb. 24 and July 12, according to Reuters. A large study out of South Korea last month found that younger children were less likely to spread the virus than adults, but children aged 10 to 19 could spread it just as much, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/health/coronavirus-children-schools.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>White House deputy national press secretary Courtney Parella defended Trump's statement in the removed video.</p><p>"The president was stating a fact that children are less susceptible to the coronavirus. Another day, another display of Silicon Valley's flagrant bias against this president, where the rules are only enforced in one direction," she said in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/technology/trump-facebook-coronavirus-video.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR0NldbBP1YYL71utJ9dYyuuiwvPEKfPL62ZoyZVj2VKLshwLD18sT4g5Ic" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "Social media companies are not the arbiters of truth."</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/06/media/facebook-twitter-trump-reliable-sources/index.html" target="_blank">CNN's Oliver Darcy</a> argued that Trump's statement in the Fox interview went much further than Parella's summary. At one point in the interview, Trump said it was a fact that children were "virtually immune" from the disease, and Facebook confirmed to Darcy that this quote was featured in the removed video.</p><p>Darcy further criticized Fox News for allowing Trump's claims to air unchallenged in the first place:</p><blockquote>What is noteworthy is that the action means that — on this issue — the two tech giants have enforced higher standards on their platforms than the Murdoch family has enforced on Fox News. Whereas Twitter and Facebook removed the clip, the hosts of "Fox & Friends" didn't challenge Trump when he made the false claim on the network's air. And, Fox News — which didn't provide me a comment — played Trump's remarks to its large audience later in the day without a fact-check.</blockquote><p>The video was on Facebook for around four hours and seen almost half a million times before it was removed, The New York Times reported.</p>YouTube also told Reuters it had removed the video, but the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOWHlKM1U6E" target="_blank">full interview</a> is still available on the Fox News channel.
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