Exposure to Toxicants and Child Health

Comments and Questions

Abstract

Children are not little adults. They interact with their environments differently than adults and are uniquely affected by those interactions. This brief comment focuses on children’s exposure to chemical toxicants, tracks current policy changes, and raises questions for consideration, including: How can different sectors, such as urban and rural planners, sanitation experts, engineers, architects, and transportation experts be drawn into the conversation on children’s environmental health? What is the role of the precautionary principle in policies to protect children’s environmental health? What is the role of costbenefit analysis? How can research results be communicated to those whose decisions affect the lives of our children?