Children's Environmental Exposure Research Study
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The Children's Environmental Exposure Research Study (or CHEERS) was a study conducted by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...
designed to examine how children may be exposed to
pesticide Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...
s and other chemicals used in U.S. households, such as
phthalate Phthalates ( ), or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid. They are mainly used as plasticizers, i.e., substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity. They are used primarily to soften ...
s,
brominated flame retardant Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are organobromine compounds that have an inhibitory effect on combustion chemistry and tend to reduce the flammability of products containing them. The brominated variety of commercialized chemical flame retarda ...
s, and
perfluorinated compound A perfluorinated compound (PFC) or perfluoro compound is an Organofluorine chemistry, organofluorine compound that lacks C-H bonds. Many perfluorinated compounds have properties that are quite different from their C-H containing analogues. Common ...
s (
PFOS Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (conjugate base perfluorooctanesulfonate) is a chemical compound having an eight-carbon fluorocarbon chain and a sulfonic acid functional group, and thus it is a perfluorosulfonic acid and a perfluoroalkyl su ...
,
PFOA Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; conjugate base perfluorooctanoate; also known colloquially as C8, from its chemical formula C8HF15O2) is a perfluorinated carboxylic acid produced and used worldwide as an industrial surfactant in chemical process ...
,
PFNA Perfluorononanoic acid, or PFNA, is a synthetic perfluorinated carboxylic acid and fluorosurfactant that is also a persistent organic pollutant. Chemistry and properties In acidic form it is a highly reactive strong acid. In its conjugate base for ...
, and others). The two-year study began in the summer of 2004 and was conducted in
Duval County, Florida Duval County ( ), officially the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, is a County (United States), county in the First Coast, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was ...
, a region with high concentration of pesticides. On April 8, 2005, Stephen L. Johnson cancelled the study after the program was criticized. Johnson himself was heavily criticized for his support in the use of human test subjects during his tenure as EPA's Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances.


Mechanics of the study

The study was due to be completed in two years, researchers would follow the progress of 60 young children whose parents sprayed pesticides frequently. They would collect data every six months taken from biological samples such as blood and urine. Parents were also required to document specific information such as food and liquid intake. They must also record their children's activities on video. To qualify, a family has to have a confirmed history of residential pesticide use, a child under the age of 13 months and must agree to continue using pesticides inside the residential abode. Participating families were promised monetary compensation of up to $970, study T-shirt, framed Certificate of Appreciation, study bib for the baby, calendar, study newsletter, and a
camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-sw ...
.


Controversies

EPA recruiting information for CHEERS claimed that participation in the study presented "no risk" to the subjects or their families. Critics, however, contended that the state of knowledge about pesticide exposure risks to infants and children while imprecise, suggests that residential pesticide exposure poses developmental risks to infants and children. This meant that CHEERS would have paid families to expose their children to pesticides for two years. EPA denied this, stressing that because CHEERS would have only examined families who used pesticides prior to the study, CHEERS would not have increased the subject families' exposure to pesticides. The argument is based on the fact that the study had an observational, rather than experimental design. There was fear, however, that the study could induce parents to intentionally expose their children to pesticides to be able to qualify in the high-use group of the study. The study was also criticized for using disproportionately black, lower-income families as subjects. EPA's claim was that Duval County was chosen because they knew that many families in the area were using large amounts of pesticides to control roaches and pests. The EPA also received $2 million of the proposed 9 million budget for the CHEERS study from the
American Chemistry Council American Chemistry Council (ACC), known as the Manufacturing Chemists' Association at its founding in 1872 then as the Chemical Manufacturers' Association (from 1978 until 2000), is an industry trade association for American chemical companies, b ...
, a
lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...
group representing 135 chemical companies in exchange for measuring levels of common household chemicals such as flame, retardants, and ingredients in plastic products along with pesticides. The CHEERS project was terminated in 2005 after it became a political matter. Thereafter, the U.S. Congress also passed a law that bans EPA from funding intentional exposure research that involves children and pregnant or nursing women.{{Cite book, title=Environmental Health Ethics, last=Resnik, first=David, publisher=Cambridge University Press, year=2012, isbn=9781107023956, location=Cambridge, pages=236


References


EPA page on CHEERSEditorial criticizing CHEERSUrban Legends on CHEERS


Further reading


Lessons Learned From the Children’s Environmental Exposure Research Study
Children's health Health research Environmental research United States Environmental Protection Agency Duval County, Florida 2004 in the United States