Welcome to the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) at the University of California, Irvine. We are one of thirteen PEHSU's located throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In conjunction with the University of California, San Francisco, we provide a variety of services to the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii. Our mission is to 1) improve the health of children with respect to environmental exposures, and 2) educate individual families, health care providers, and the general public regarding children's environmental health. We are funded by the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC) through a cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The establishment of PEHSU's was an important step towards addressing the environmental health concerns of our nation's children. There are many hazardous substances in our environment that may affect the health and development of children in our country. Exposure to these environmental hazards may result in health effects such as learning disabilities, respiratory diseases, damage to the nervous system, and cancer.