The Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry (ATSDR) has put special emphasis on children in conducting
its health studies and other activities. Children are especially at
risk of being exposed to hazardous substances from waste sites or accidental
spills and of suffering adverse health effects from their exposure.
They typically play in mud, splash in creeks, crawl on floors, roll in
dirt-activities that put them at higher risk of exposure to hazardous
substances that may be in water or soil. Their height puts them at a
level where they are more likely to be exposed to breathing dust and
heavy vapors that are close to the ground. They may ingest hazardous
substances if they put their hands in their mouths, or eat food in a
contaminated area.
Their small body size and developing
systems also place them at greater risk than adults. Because they are
smaller they receive higher doses of toxicants per pound of body weight.
Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more water, eat more food,
and breathe more air than adults do. Many organ systems in young children,
such as the nervous system and the lungs, are undergoing rapid growth and
development in the first years of life. These systems are especially
vulnerable to injury during these periods of development. And, of
special concern is exposure of the fetus, whose organ and body systems are
still developing.
Even teenagers can be at risk, as
some may ignore warning signs and venture into contaminated areas. For
example and exposure investigation conducted in FY 1998 found that 30
teenagers in Texarkana, Arkansas, had elevated levels of mercury after being
exposed to elemental mercury taken from an abandoned factory.
ATSDR estimates about 3 million
children younger than 18 years old live within 1 mile of a National
Priorities List (NPL) hazardous waste site. ATSDR has conducted
numerous health studies and other activities that have sought to learn more
about the potential health effects children who live near hazardous waste
sites may experience, how they may be exposed, and effective ways to prevent
their exposure.
ATSDR has conducted studies that have
assessed whether the infants of mothers who live near hazardous waste sites
face a higher risk of having various birth defects or adverse health
outcomes such as small for gestational age. While some of these
studies have assessed single sites, where populations were small, several
have looked at larger studies in California, New York, and New Jersey.
These large health studies have found an increased risk for neural tube
defects. Some studies also showed an increased risk for
musculoskeletal defects and heart defects.
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