Addressing children's environmental health in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessments and regulations

Children are more susceptible than adults to many environmental contaminants, especially during the early lifestages of infancy and toddlerhood, because of differences in physiology, higher breathing rates and food and water consumption per body weight, and rapid development of the brain and bodily systems. Children's activities and behaviors also may increase their chances for exposure to various pollutants compared to adults. Where the science on these differences is sufficient, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published regulatory and science policies to account for children's unique differences and adequately protect these vulnerable lifestages in the process of developing environmental public health regulations. The Guide to Considering Children's Health When Developing EPA Actions: Implementing Executive Order 13045 and EPA's Policy on Evaluating Health Risks to Children provides an overarching framework on these regulatory policies, while other documents focus on specific science policy topics (e.g. Exposure Factors Handbook 2011 Edition and A Framework for Assessing Health Risk of Environmental Exposures to Children). To determine the influence of children's environmental health data and policies on regulations and risk assessments, we reviewed EPA regulatory actions, proposed or final, during the period 2010–present, including those in EPA's Regulatory Development and Retrospective Review Tracker and the Agency's Regulatory Agenda. We identified those that have particular relevance for children's environmental health, including the Regulatory Determination for Perchlorate in Drinking Water, Mercury and Air Toxics Rule, Lead Dust Hazard Standards, and Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Toxicological Reviews for Trichloroethylene and Formaldehyde. For each regulatory action or risk assessment, we present the statutory authority, children's health data, relevant policies, and potential impact on the outcome of these actions. Overall, the policies accounting for children's differential exposures and susceptibility have affected these EPA regulations and assessments, but additional data and effort are needed to fully address children's health.