Concerns about adequate protection of children's health from chemicals in the environment have created a need for research to identify how children's risks differ from adults'. A systematic review of factors that affect child sensitivity throughout development may be useful for research and practice in this area. We summarized available literature and other peer-reviewed information on factors that affect pharmacokinetics and exposure in an age-based developmental framework. Biological processes related to chemical absorption (gastrointestinal, dermal, and pulmonary), distribution, metabolism, and excretion were considered, along with reference to behaviors and other factors associated with child-specific exposures. The available information was summarized in a timeline of maturation for biological processes. It indicates variability in the duration and timing of maturation for each biological function. Possible implications for understanding pediatric sensitivity to environmental chemicals are discussed in light of factors affecting exposure through development. Themes that emerge from the evidence are presented as hypothesis-generating conclusions. This approach may be useful for evaluating developmental trends of susceptibility, and for identifying time periods and/or chemical classes of particular concern and thus important to consider in risk assessment.

Pharmacists, like psychiatrists, have modified their practices amidst COVID-19 in order to guarantee care and support to their patients. Designated an essential frontline service, community pharmacists are facing a spectrum of challenges to surmount to ensure patient care continues. These include assisting in the prevention of infection, managing supply chains, preventing stockpiling and provision of evidence-based medical information. However, disasters like COVID-19 disproportionately affect poor and vulnerable populations, and patients with mental health conditions may be among the hardest hit. Pharmacist-level, system-level and regulatory responses have sought to minimise this impact, although there is likely to be a lasting impression on the profession, both good and bad. This article reviews the pandemic-related challenges and responses by pharmacists, as well as forming recommendation for areas of professional support and role expansion, particularly in the case of mental health.

The City of Stockton, CA operates a wastewater treatment facility that discharges tertiary treated effluent during the summer and secondary treated effluent during the winter to the San Joaquin River. Investigations were carried out between 1996 and 2002 to provide insight regarding the potential public health benefit that may be provided by year-round tertiary treatment. A hydraulic model of the San Joaquin River and a dynamic disease transmission model integrated a wide array of disparate data to estimate the level of viral gastroenteritis in the population under the two treatment scenarios. The results of the investigation suggest that risk of viral gastroenteritis attributable to the treatment facility under the existing treatment scheme is several orders of magnitude below the 8-14 illnesses per 1000 recreation events considered tolerable by U.S. EPA, and winter tertiary treatment would further reduce the existing risk by approximately 15-50%. The methodologies employed herein are applicable to other watersheds where additional water treatment is being considered to address public health concerns from recreation in receiving waters.

Communities and research participants increasingly feel that they have rights to be equal partners with researchers and to have access to the results of studies to which they have contributed. Concurrently, research sponsors have become aware of legal liabilities, societal repercussions, and credibility impacts of ignoring research communication responsibilities. However, issues related to research communications are rarely discussed at professional meetings or taught in academic programs. As a result, individual investigators may not be clear about their duties to communicate the results of their research. It is important to address this gap between expectations and abilities, because researchers' lack of communication fosters a climate of distrust in science and implies disinterest or disrespect for participants and communities. Ethical, legal, and professional frameworks and practices were reviewed to develop insights about principles, guidelines, and means that can be used to promote best practices. A review of general research guidance and specific requests for proposals revealed sponsors' communication priorities. While there are barriers to research communication, there is an increasing awareness among sponsors and investigators that effective and responsive communication is not a cheap or uniform add-on to a project or proposal. Communications must be tailored to the project considering all potential stakeholders, and resources need to be allocated specifically for communication activities within projects. Researchers, sponsors, professional societies and academia all have opportunities to improve principles, policies, frameworks, guidelines and strategies to foster "best practice" communication of research results.

The Food Quality Protection Act and the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act are two of the most recent examples of legislation calling for protection of susceptible subpopulations. As regulatory deadlines draw nearer, controversies in scientific and policy arenas increase about incorporating susceptibility in risk assessment. The previously accepted working definition of "susceptibility" has already been called into question. Part of the controversy results from different disciplines conceiving of susceptibility in different ways. Understanding the conceptual differences embodied within definitions can provide a basis on which a revised working definition may be developed across disciplines. The purposes of this article are to describe the varying definitions of susceptibility, discuss the differing concepts incorporated in the definitions, and recommend ways in which susceptibility may be defined and framed to meet current risk assessment needs. The present analysis of definitions from the fields of ecology, biology, engineering, medicine, epidemiology, and toxicology revealed different emphases that relate to the underlying perspectives and methods of each field. It is likely that susceptibility will need to be formally defined for public policy purposes, but until that time, the use of more informal communication and decision-making processes is suggested to develop and utilize a new working consensus on the definition of susceptibility.