Hidden Harms: How Plastics & Chemicals in Plastics Affect the Developing Brains of Children
May 21, 2026 @ 11:00am (AKDT)
Children’s brains are rapidly developing and especially sensitive to environmental exposures, making early-life contact with toxic substances a critical public health concern (Project TENDR, 2024). In this webinar, leading experts with Project TENDR (Targeting Environmental Neurodevelopmental Risks) Maureen Swanson, Dr. Carmen Marsit, and Dr. Sue Schantz will examine the emerging science on how plastics, (and the chemical additives used in their production) as well as microplastics themselves, may affect children’s brain development and overall health.
Drawing on decades of research in toxicology, epidemiology, and neuroscience, the speakers will present evidence highlighting the potential impacts of these exposures during critical windows of development. They will discuss how commonly encountered plastic-related chemicals can interfere with biological processes essential for healthy brain development, and why the widespread presence of these materials in everyday environments raises urgent concerns.
This CHE – Alaska webinar will also explore practical solutions, with the speakers outlining strategies to reduce children’s exposure to harmful chemicals in plastics, including policy approaches, system-level changes, and opportunities for prevention. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of the science, the scope of the issue, and actionable steps that can be taken to better protect children’s health now and in the future.
CHE-Alaska is part of CHE’s broader network, which is an international partnership of almost 5,000 individuals and organizations in 87 countries and all 50 US states that are committed to addressing environmental impacts on human health across the lifespan.
We encourage you to become a CHE partner so you can receive their monthly email newsletters, announcements about upcoming webinars, and other updates on a range of environmental health topics. Visit www.healthandenvironment.org to learn more.
Featured speakers
Maureen Swanson is Co-Director of Project TENDR (Targeting Environmental Neuro-Development Risks), an alliance of scientists, health professionals, and advocates working to protect children’s developing brains from toxic chemicals and pollutants. She facilitates, crafts, and communicates scientific consensus as a basis for advocacy to inform and influence policy change. She has testified before Congress and is co-author of articles on environmental threats to child brain development in scientific, medical, and disabilities journals. Maureen holds a master’s degree in environmental/public affairs from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University. She co-founded Project TENDR in 2015.
Carmen J. Marsit, PhD is Executive Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research Strategy and Rollins Distinguished Professor of Environmental Health and Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Dr. Marsit also leads a multi-disciplinary research program focused on understanding the impacts of the pre- and perinatal environments on maternal and child health, utilizing the tools of genomics, epigenomics, and bioinformatics to uncover mechanisms underlying the impact of the environment on health with a specific focus on the placenta. He serves as Director of the NIEHS-funded Emory HERCULES Exposome Research Center and Training Program in the Environmental Health Sciences and Toxicology. Dr. Marsit received his BS in Biochemistry from Lafayette College and his PhD in the Biological Sciences in Public Health from Harvard University.
Susan Schantz, PhD is a professor emerita of Toxicology and Neuroscience at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Over her more than 35-year career she has conducted research in animal models and human populations focusing on how early life exposure to chemicals in our environment and our food supply impacts neurodevelopment. She directed a Children’s Environmental Health Research Center and a Toxicology and Environmental Health graduate and postdoctoral training program, both NIH-funded, for many years and she currently leads one of the research sites for the NIH-funded Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program.