By all accounts the incidence of some environmentally-related diseases in children is on the rise. The public health community has recognized that fetuses, children, and developing organisms are often more susceptible to environmental contaminants than adults; public health policy frequently fails to reflect this susceptibility. Presidential Executive Order #13045, requires that all Federal agencies consider impacts on children when developing policies. In the years since this Executive Order was enacted, federal and state agencies as well as academic and non-profit institutions have been engaged in intense efforts to understand the differing susceptibility of children to environmental hazards and to address those hazards most clearly associated with specific exposures (e.g., lead, asthma, pesticides). Explicit consideration of children’s health was built into the Food Quality Protection Act. While important steps, efforts to date have not adequately addressed the large uncertainties regarding the effects of single and multiple environmental stressors on children and fetuses, and have failed to stress fundamental prevention in the face of uncertainties and variability in susceptibility. As children can be considered a “sensitive population” it is important that precaution be applied when children’s environmental health is at stake. This presentation will examine ways to consider children’s environmental health in decision-making, including acknowledging uncertainties and potential magnitude of harm to children, examining the life cycle impacts of products (from production, use and disposal), thoroughly examining alternatives to practices that might result in children’s environmental health risks, and taking action to prevent those risks, even when they have not been proven.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: Children's Health, Environmental Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.