A qualitative analysis of environmental policy and children's health in Mexico

Enrique Cifuentes,Martha Ramirez,Leonardo Trasande,Philip J Landrigan

doi:10.1186/1476-069x-9-14

Abstract

BackgroundSince Mexico's joining the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1994, it has witnessed rapid industrialization. A byproduct of this industrialization is increasing population exposure to environmental pollutants, of which some have been associated with childhood disease. We therefore identified and assessed the adequacy of existing international and Mexican governance instruments and policy tools to protect children from environmental hazards.MethodsWe first systematically reviewed PubMed, the Mexican legal code and the websites of the United Nations, World Health Organization, NAFTA and OECD as of July 2007 to identify the relevant governance instruments, and analyzed the approach these instruments took to preventing childhood diseases of environmental origin. Secondly, we interviewed a purposive sample of high-level government officials, researchers and non-governmental organization representatives, to identify their opinions and attitudes towards children's environmental health and potential barriers to child-specific protective legislation and implementation.ResultsWe identified only one policy tool describing specific measures to reduce developmental neurotoxicity and other children's health effects from lead. Other governance instruments mention children's unique vulnerability to ozone, particulate matter and carbon monoxide, but do not provide further details. Most interviewees were aware of Mexican environmental policy tools addressing children's health needs, but agreed that, with few exceptions, environmental policies do not address the specific health needs of children and pregnant women. Interviewees also cited state centralization of power, communication barriers and political resistance as reasons for the absence of a strong regulatory platform.ConclusionsThe Mexican government has not sufficiently accounted for children's unique vulnerability to environmental contaminants. If regulation and legislation are not updated and implemented to protect children, increases in preventable exposures to toxic chemicals in the environment may ensue.

Highlights

The past two decades have witnessed Mexico’s signature onto the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its membership as an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country
We analyzed PubMed and governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) reports obtained from the Web sites of the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations (UN), Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the main NAFTA parallel environmental accord, to identify regulations regarding children’s environmental health to which Mexico might adhere
Analysis of International Governance Instruments We reviewed nearly 690 international policy tools that contained any of the required search terms

Summary

Introduction

The past two decades have witnessed Mexico’s signature onto the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its membership as an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country. While asthma prevalence in some areas of Mexico remains below other Latin American countries [15], asthma prevalence varies widely within each region [16] Differences in these rates may be related to differences in ozone and other outdoor air pollutants which have been linked to the exacerbation and development of asthma [17,18,19,20,21,22,23]. Since Mexico’s joining the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1994, it has witnessed rapid industrialization. We identified and assessed the adequacy of existing international and Mexican governance instruments and policy tools to protect children from environmental hazards

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion