References Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2021). ToxFAQs . https://wwwn. cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsLanding. aspx Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2024a). Public Health Assessment Training . https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pha- training/php/training/index.html Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2024b). Public Health Assessment Webinars . https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pha- webinars/php/training/index.html Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2024c). Toxicological Profiles . https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxicological -profiles/about/index.html Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2024d). Environmental medicine education resources . https://www.atsdr.cdc. gov/environmental-medicine/hcp/emhsis/ index.html Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2024e). PFAS information for cli- nicians—2024 . https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ pfas/hcp/clinical-overview/ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2024f). Taking an exposure his- tory case study . https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ environmental-medicine/hcp/csemtak inganexposurehistory/index.html Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2024g). Community Engagement Playbook . https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/com munity-engagement-playbook/php/about/ index.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, & Agency for Toxic Substances and Dis- ease Registry. (2018). Health communica- tion playbook . https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/ cdc/103379 Li, Z., Yarbrough, A., Ragin-Wilson, A., & Reh, C. (2025). Building capacity nationwide on environmental health and protecting communities from harmful chemical exposures. Journal of Environ- mental Health , 87 (8), 36–39. https://doi. org/10.70387/001c.133854 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units. (2025). Home page . https://educa tion.acmt.net/pehsu
race and ethnicity, national origin, primary language, sex, university a liation, and geographic regions. For each focus group, eight professors attended the discussion in April 2024 while one contributed feedback via email. The par- ticipants provided a range of feedback about the content, design, and distribution of ATS- DR’s materials. The following summarizes participant recommendations to improve the marketing materials and plan: • Highlight additional resources: » Environmental health: ToxFAQs (ATSDR, 2021), the Community Engagement Play- book (ATSDR, 2024g), and the Health Communication Playbook (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention & ATSDR, 2018) » Environmental medicine: Toxicological Profiles (ATSDR, 2024c) and ToxFAQs (ATSDR, 2021) • Conduct outreach to other audiences, such as science journalists and news reporters, communities near hazardous sites, and students at various educational levels (e.g., community college, high school, poten- tially middle school). » Develop separate brochures and tailor them for each audience, including edu- cators; students; and medical, nursing, and other healthcare professionals. » Include audience-specific questions and action-based messages to attract the attention of the audience. » Create brochures and educational resources for high school students and beyond to promote environmen- tal health and environmental medicine education and career opportunities. For example, a Meet the Professional brochure could help students become interested in other environmental health or environmental medicine fields of study and careers. •Emphasize the availability of free con- tinuing education credits or certificates of completion. • Enhance the materials with vivid colors, relevant images, and audience-specific messages. Consider an infographic format. The photos in the environmental health brochures should include images of sites, exposure scenarios, and visuals of environ- mental health professionals at work.
• Use direct email communication as the preferred method for disseminating infor- mation to educators. Finally, participating educators confirmed that many public health programs have gaps in education on public health assessment and health risk assessment. Likewise, many medical schools have gaps in environmental health and environmental medicine education. They com- mented that ATSDR educational resources can help fill those gaps. Many desirable attributes are noted, including high credibility, relevant content, up-to-date advances from experts who do the work, online accessibility, opportuni- ties for interactivity, and modular-based con- tent. There was a strong interest in integrating ATSDR educational resources into their school’s educational programs and curricula, with numerous benefits for educators and students. Discussion The feedback received by participants rein- forced the value and utility of ATSDR’s exten- sive technical resources to fill gaps in current curricula. Meanwhile, the project also high- lighted the need for better dissemination and eective promotion of these readily available resources to various target audiences in the education arena. As a result, ATSDR will continue its eorts to eectively promote educational materi- als developed by scientists and experts who work on real-world environmental issues. Currently, we are developing a centralized website that includes professional competen- cies, training, risk assessment, and resources for professionals interested in environmental exposure. Future initiatives could include creating tailored brochures for specific audi- ences, enhancing promotion through social media, active outreach to academic institu- tions, and eective partnership with profes- sional associations. These initiatives will pro- vide future health professionals with more awareness and access to environmental health and environmental medicine resources from ATSDR, as they address harmful environmen- tal exposures in communities. Corresponding Author: Arthur Wendel, MPH, MD, O ce of Capacity Development and Pre- vention Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1200 6th Avenue, Suite 905, Seattle, WA 98101. Email: dvq6@cdc.gov
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June 2025 • Journal of Environmental Health
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