In addition to receiving your home’s and child's sample results and recommendations to help protect your family from chemical exposures, you will also receive a total of $150 for participating. Your child will receive small prizes for completing fun, game-like activities with a member of our team!

You can start the enrollment process now!

If you enroll in PEDS, we will need your family’s participation in a few activities. No travel is required! You can complete all your activities from home:

• If you enroll, a member of our study team will visit your child care center to play a fun, game-like activity with your child and other participating children. Your child will complete this activity on a computer, and it takes about 30 minutes. You do not need to be present for this - we coordinate directly with your child care center.
  
  
• Your family will also partner with our team to become participatory scientists! We will mail you a test kit to collect dust and water samples from your home and collect saliva and a small hair sample from your child. Your child will also wear a silicone wristband for several days. The sampling process is simple and will take a total of about 1 hour over the course of 1 week.
  
  
• We will ask you questions over the phone. You will also complete a confidential online survey. The interview and survey take about 1 hour each.
  
  
• You can choose to attend a 1-hour webinar to learn how to interpret your sample results and ask questions about your results.
  
  

Visit our FAQ page for families to learn more, or contact a member of our study team with any questions.

The PEDS team is trying to understand if common chemical exposures experienced during early childhood might influence children’s cognitive development.

Cognitive development is related to how children think, play, explore, and learn to solve problems. We can study this part of child development using fun, game-like activities, such as playing with children using blocks, puzzles, and puppets.

We are testing for common chemicals that children might regularly encounter in their day-to-day life.

We will test for lead, heavy metals, "forever chemicals," flame retardants, and cigarette smoke. Each of these common chemicals has been shown to impact children’s development.

Learn more about the chemicals we are testing for and why we are testing for them.

You cannot see, smell, or taste most common chemical contaminants. The samples from your child care center, home, and child can help identify potential sources of chemical contamination in your child’s environment.

Our team of children’s environmental health experts will also provide recommendations to reduce your child’s exposure to these contaminants so you are empowered to protect your family.

We are ready to enroll you and your family's child care center!

Start the enrollment process now

Or,

Contact a member of our team with any questions.