Child Health and the Environment - A Primer

2,69
MB

134
stron

2974
ID Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment

2005
rok

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction .3

What Makes Children Healthy? ..5

Exposures of Concern 8

Chapter 2: Why Focus on Children? .19

Children are Different ..19

Greater Exposure than Adults ..20

More Vulnerable than Adults ..23

Windows of Vulnerability 25

Some Children are at Greater Risk than Others 28

Chapter 3: Health Effects of Concern .33

The Respiratory System ..34

The Developing Brain and Nervous System .36

Cancer .41

Human Reproduction and Child Development 46

The Endocrine System .51

The Immune System 55

Multiple Health Effects .57

Chapter 4: Children's Exposures .59

Describing Exposure .59

In the Womb: The First Environment ..61

Breast Milk: The First Food 62

Indoor Air and Dust 65

Outdoor Air 70

Food ..72

Water ..73

Chapter 5: What Is Being Done? .77

Research 78

International Commitments .79

Government Roles: Shared Responsibilities 81

Community Involvement .84

Regulating Environmental Risks: Have We Learned from Past Mistakes? .87

Moving Forward: Dealing with the "Backlog" 90

Assessing Multiple Effects and Multiple Exposures ..93

The Precautionary Principle: Better Safe than Sorry ..94

Chapter 6: Creating Healthy Environments for Children 97

The Environmental Childproofing Top Ten List ..98

Key References 115

Glossary ..120