CFA joined public health advocates including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, and the National Association of School Nurses, in the following letter urging Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Susan Monarez to immediately reinstate and fund the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice (DEHSP) at CDC. The Trump Administration eliminated DEHSP on April 1^st as part of a broader reduction in force of 10,000 employees across the Department of Health and Human Services.

The CDC Division had coordinated with states to solve outbreaks and prevent exposure to environmental health threats, including the nationwide lead poisoning outbreak in children caused by imported cinnamon applesauce that had been intentionally adulterated with lead chromate. Over a month ago, Kennedy indicated that CDC’s lead poisoning surveillance staff would be reinstated, but no action has followed to reinstate staff at DEHSP working on lead poisoning or any other environmental hazards. Children are particularly susceptible to lead exposure and other harms from environmental hazards.