This week, the ATS joined the Friends of NIEHS (FNIEHS) in a letter to Congress urging support for additional funding for NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) research efforts related to COVID-19 in the next pandemic response legislation. The ATS co-chairs the Friends of NIEHS with the Endocrine Society. The NIEHS Worker Training Program received $10 million in the first COVID-19 response package for front-line worker training to prevent and reduce exposure of hospital employees, emergency first responders and other workers at risk of exposure to coronavirus.

In addition to the important worker training and education efforts, the FNIEHS letter points out that with additional funding the institute can address important research issues that will aid the response to COVID-19, including the role of environmental exposures – such as air pollution in impacting susceptibility to COVID-19 infection – and the potential health effects of widespread use of disinfection products for COVID-19 control. “Providing NIEHS with appropriate supplemental funds now to address research questions at the intersection of the environment and COVID-19 is critical for the current pandemic, which may include additional waves of disease in the coming months, but also to build a better research foundation to prepare for future pandemics,” the FNIEHS said.