Environmental Exposures and Children's Health

Guadalupe Chapa will work as a post-doc researcher serving on the field and research team of The Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS), a community-university partnership that investigates environmental exposures and children’s health in the agricultural community of Salinas Valley. CHAMACOS is the central project of UC Berkeley's Center for Children's Environmental Health Research (CCEHR), one of a dozen such centers nationwide funded by EPA and NIEHS. Guadalupe will work on an environmental health intervention study aimed at reducing exposure to pesticides and other allergens, toxins, etc. by children in low-income households. Poor housing conditions in agricultural communities is considered a major indicator of health impacts related to presence of pests (rodents, cockroaches) and pesticide use as well as lead paint exposure. These conditions have been shown to lead to respiratory ailments, learning disabilities and other environmental health problems, especially in children.