For families
Contact PEHSU
This information is not a substitute for talking with your child's doctor.
If this is urgent
- Poison Help 1-800-222-1222Call Poison Help for a suspected poisoning or ingestion happening right now.
- RM PEHSU 1-877-800-5554Call our line for acute exposures and time-sensitive questions.
- rmpehsu@dhha.orgEmail us for non-urgent questions, literature review, and complex exposure histories.
Consultation is free.
Who can request a consultation
- Healthcare providers
- Public health agencies
- Schools and educators
- Community organizations
- Families and caregivers
We cannot provide direct medical care. Where possible we prefer to work through a child's clinician, and we can talk with you and them together.
When to consult us
“Could this exposure be affecting my patient?”
Help interpreting a possible environmental exposure, symptoms, and what is known about the potential health effects.
“What should I do about this elevated lead level?”
Guidance on unexpected or persistent blood lead levels, potential sources, follow-up, and management.
“How can I help this family reduce pesticide exposure?”
Practical, evidence-based guidance for counseling families about pesticides and other environmental hazards.
“How can we improve lead testing in our community?”
Consultation for health departments and healthcare organizations working to improve environmental health screening, testing, and follow-up.
“Can PEHSU provide education for our clinicians?”
Grand Rounds, presentations, and other education on topics such as asthma and the environment, climate, lead, pesticides, and healthy homes.
“How should I talk with this family about environmental exposures and cancer?”
Evidence-based consultation and communication support when families have questions about environmental factors and childhood cancer.
Send us your question
Frequently asked questions
A Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit is a team of doctors, nurses and toxicologists who answer questions about how the environment affects children's health. There are units across the country; ours covers Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. We are free, and you do not need a referral. We answer questions from families, doctors, schools, public health agencies and community groups.
Yes. There is no charge, no insurance billing and no account to set up. We are funded by a federal grant to answer exactly these questions.
A lead test result you do not understand. Whether it is safe to let your child play outside when there is smoke. Water from a private well. A smell in a school or apartment. Something your child swallowed. A chemical used near where you live. Whether a product is worth worrying about. If you are not sure whether your question fits, ask anyway — we would rather tell you it is nothing.
No, and we cannot provide medical care. Always start with your child's own doctor for a health concern. What we do is help you and your doctor think through an environmental question — often by talking directly with them. This award does not fund direct patient care.
It usually helps. We prefer to work alongside your child's clinician, because they know your child and can order tests and follow up. You are welcome to contact us first — we can help you work out what to ask them.
Lead, radon, carbon monoxide, wildfire smoke, mold and damp housing, private well water, and questions about plastics and household products. Every one of those has a page on this site with practical steps.
Most clinicians get very little training in environmental health — that is the reason units like ours exist. It is not a gap in your doctor's ability, and you do not need to become the expert yourself. Your doctor can call us directly, and many do.
We typically respond to email within 2 business days. Calls are answered within a few minutes and triaged by the poison center, which can give immediate answers to urgent questions; less time-sensitive questions are passed to the core PEHSU team, and we follow up within 2 business days. For a poisoning emergency, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 straight away — they answer 24 hours a day.