Time zones: 11 AM Alaska / 12 PM Pacific / 3 PM Eastern
Children’s brains are rapidly developing and especially sensitive to environmental exposures, making early-life contact with toxic substances a critical public health concern. In this webinar, leading experts Maureen Swanson, Dr. Carmen Marsit, and Dr. Sue Schantz will examine the emerging science on how plastics and the chemical additives used in their production, as well as microplastics themselves, may affect children’s brain development and overall health.
Drawing on decades of research in toxicology, epidemiology, and neuroscience, the speakers will present evidence highlighting the potential impacts of these exposures during critical windows of development. They will discuss how commonly encountered plastic-related chemicals can interfere with biological processes essential for healthy brain development, and why the widespread presence of these materials in everyday environments raises urgent concerns.
This CHE Alaska webinar will also explore practical solutions. Our speakers will outline strategies to reduce children’s exposure to harmful chemicals in plastics, including policy approaches, system-level changes, and opportunities for prevention. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of the science, the scope of the issue, and actionable steps that can be taken to better protect children’s health now and in the future.
Featured Speakers
Carmen J. Marsit, PhD, is Executive Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research Strategy, Rollins Distinguished Professor of Research, and Professor in the Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Dr. Marsit also leads a multi-disciplinary research program focused on understanding the impacts of the pre- and perinatal environments on maternal and child health, utilizing the tools of genomics, epigenomics, and bioinformatics to uncover mechanisms underlying the impact of the environment on health within epidemiologic studies. He serves as Director of the NIEHS-funded Emory HERCULES Exposome Research Center and Training Program in the Environmental Health Sciences and Toxicology. Dr. Marsit received his BS in Biochemistry from Lafayette College and his PhD in the Biological Sciences in Public Health from Harvard University.
Maureen Swanson, MPA, is the Director of Environmental Risk Reduction & Project TENDR (Targeting Environmental Neurodevelopment Risks), a program of The Arc and a collaborative of scientists, health professionals, and advocates working to protect children from toxic chemicals and pollutants that harm brain development. Project TENDR prioritizes ending the disproportionate exposures to these chemicals and pollutants and greater impacts experienced by children from families with low incomes and families of color. As the Healthy Children Project director for the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Maureen helped to coalesce and lead health organizations for the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families coalition, which successfully advocated for the 2016 revision of the Toxic Substances Control Act. Prior to that, she was an environmental policy analyst for the State of Minnesota. Maureen co-founded Project TENDR in 2015.
Susan Schantz, PhD is a professor of toxicology in the Department of Comparative Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is also director of a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) T32 training program in endocrine, developmental, and reproductive toxicology and director of a Children’s Environmental Health Research Center jointly funded by NIEHS and EPA. In addition, she is currently the interim director of the Neuroscience Program. Her research interests involve understanding the neurobehavioral effects of chemical exposures during development and aging. She conducts research in both laboratory-based animal studies and parallel epidemiologic studies. Dr. Schantz has served as a president of the Neurotoxicology Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology and president of the Neurobehaviroral Teratology Society. She was also a member of the NRC Committee to Assess the Health Implications of Perchlorate Ingestion. She received her PhD in environmental toxicology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
This webinar will be hosted by the CHE-Alaska Partnership, which is coordinated by Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT). Driven by a core belief in environmental justice, ACAT empowers communities to eliminate exposure to toxics through collaborative research, shared science, education, organizing, and advocacy.