PEHSU Grand Rounds - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): What Clinicians Need to Know

During this webinar, presenters discuss current and relevant information for health professionals on the health effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The presentation will provide an overview of PFAS, describing their basic structure and chemical properties. It will also review the presence and persistence of PFAS both in the environment and in the human body, routes of exposure, and current risk reduction strategies.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Define per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
2. List exposure pathways
3. Describe potential health effects of PFAS
4. Explain strategies for patient assessment and medical management
5. Identify how to best address patient concerns
6. Identify special issues regarding children and PFAS
7. Discuss ongoing PFAS biomonitoring activities nationwide (i.e., ATSDR Exposure Assessments)
8. Identify resources available to health care providers

Moderator

Catherine Karr, MD, PhD, MS, FAAP Co-Director, Northwest PEHSU (Region 10) Professor of General Pediatrics at the University of Washington Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Washington 

Presenters:

Laura Anderko, PhD, RN Co-Director, Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment (Region 3 PEHSU). Dr. Laura Anderko is a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Nursing & Health Studies holds the Robert and Kathleen Scanlon Endowed Chair in Values Based Health Care. She is Co-Director of the federally funded Region 3 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, The Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health and the Environment at Villanova University College of Nursing.  Dr. Anderko is an educator and scholar in the field of public health, environmental health and nursing, publishing extensively on children’s environmental health. She has served on several federal advisory committees and boards. She currently serves as a special advisor for the National Environmental Health Partnership (APHA), Project TENDR, and on the Steering Committee of ANHE.

Dr.  Alan Woolf is a Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr Woolf is a board-certified pediatrician, medical toxicologist, and researcher, having authored or co-authored more than 250 scientific publications. He also serves as the Director the fellowship training program in pediatric environmental health and is the Director of both the Pediatric Environmental Health Center at Children’s Hospital and the Region 1 New England (PEHSU). Dr. Woolf runs a specialty clinic which sees over two hundred families each year, most of whom are referred for health issues related to childhood lead exposure.

CE Origination date: 02/15/21
CE Expiration date: 02/23/23

ACCREDITATION STATEMENTS: 

CME: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

CNE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is accredited as a provider of Continuing Nursing Education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. This activity provides 1.0 contact hours.

CEU: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is authorized by IACET to offer 0.1 CEU's for this program.

CECH: Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc.

This program is designated for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES®) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES®) to receive up to 1 total Category I continuing education contact hours. Maximum advanced level continuing education contact hours available are 0. CDC provider number 98614.

For Certified Public Health Professionals (CPH) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a pre-approved provider of Certified in Public Health (CPH) recertification credits and is authorized to offer 1 CPH recertification credits for this program.

DISCLOSURE:  In compliance with continuing education requirements, all presenters must disclose any financial or other associations with the manufacturers of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services, or commercial supporters as well as any use of unlabeled product(s) or product(s) under investigational use.

CDC, our planners, presenters, and their spouses/partners wish to disclose they have no financial interests or other relationships with the manufacturers of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services, or commercial supporters. Planners have reviewed content to ensure there is no bias.

Content will not include any discussion of the unlabeled use of a product or a product under investigational use except for Dr. Charles McKay’s discussion if raised as a question regarding potential treatment to reduce PFAS body burden – not recommended.

CDC did not accept commercial support for this continuing education activity.

Disclaimer: This was supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and funded (in part) by the cooperative agreement award number 5 NU61TS000296-02-00 from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Acknowledgement: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the PEHSU by providing partial funding to ATSDR under Inter-Agency Agreement number DW-75-95877701. Neither EPA nor ATSDR endorse the purchase of any commercial products or services mentioned in PEHSU publications.

 WD4381-012721