Abstract
Background: Children must be recognized as a sensitive population based on having biological systems and organs in various stages of development. The processes of absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of environmental contaminants within a child’s body are considered less advanced than those of adults, making them more susceptible to disease outcomes following even small doses. Children’s unique activities of crawling and practicing increased hand-to-mouth ingestion also make them vulnerable to greater exposures by certain contaminants within specific environments. Approach: There is a need to review the field of children’s environmental exposures in order to understand trends and identify gaps in research, which may lead to better protection of this vulnerable and sensitive population. Therefore, explored here are previously published contemporary works in the broad area of children’s environmental exposures and potential impact on health from around the world. A discussion of children’s exposure to environmental contaminants is best organized under the last four steps of a risk assessment approach: hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment (including children’s activity patterns) and risk characterization. We first consider the many exposure hazards that exist in the indoor and outdoor environments, and emerging contaminants of concern that may help guide the risk assessment process in identifying focus areas for children. A section on special diseases of concern is also included. Conclusions: The field of children’s exposures to environmental contaminants is broad. Although there are some well-studied areas offering much insight into children exposures, research is still needed to further our understanding of exposures to newer compounds, growing disease trends and the role of gene-environment interactions that modify adverse health outcomes. It is clear that behaviors of adults and children play a role in reducing or increasing a child’s exposure, where strategies to better communicate and implement risk modifying behaviors are needed, and can be more effective than implementing changes in the physical environment.
Highlights
Propose that since some legacy environmental contaminant concentrations are not on the rise, other factors are at play; changes in theenvironment might be attributable to the rising rates of asthma and allergies, such as changes in diet, cleaner environments for infants and children (i.e., “hygiene hypothesis”), growing obesity rates, and increased use of some medications that result in immune deficiencies or damage [86]
Genetics are believed to be involved in 75% of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) cases, dictating both the level of severity and persistence of the condition into adulthood [91]. Autism is another neurological disease for which environmental exposures such as PCBs, PBDEs, heavy metals, pesticides, and biological agents are believed to play a role, and for which comorbidities, such as immune system dysfunction and other psychiatric problems, are common; it is believed autism has been on the rise over the last 20 years in the United States and around the world [75,92]
A recent article from the UK Millennium Cohort Study related obesity to the early life inequality factors of maternal smoking during pregnancy, maternal pre-pregnancy overweightness, and low educational attainment as predictors [94]. These predictors may provide some understanding for the varying rates of obesity in certain socio-economic populations, it is well understood that changes in dietary intake and levels of physical activity related to caloric imbalances are the leading causes for obesity, especially in the industrialized world [95]
Summary
The United States President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children has new 2016 endeavors to coordinate federal efforts to improve children’s health with. Has the greatest duty for research and regulations concerning children’s exposures to environmental outdoor and indoor contaminants, while the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) oversees the safety of products marketed to children Other agencies, such as the U.S Food and Drug. 1960 provides valuable insights into exposures across multiple age groups, socio-economic categories, and geographic areas [8] These large prospective birth cohort studies offer great insight into the potential role of environmental contaminants in children’s health, some challenges have been identified by Luo et al These challenges include cost, quality control, limited data on early life exposures, heavy participant burdens, and lack of coordination and sharing of data across countries that could offer greater insight into population differences [6]. Within the risk assessment field cumulative exposures can be understood as exposures to multiple adverse influences on health such as chemical agents, poverty and poor nutrition
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