 Almost 120 million children live in North America. Many of them face economic, social and environmental challenges every day. More children than ever need daily medication to control asthma. Others struggle to control aggressive outbursts and understand difficult learning concepts. Too many, particularly in poorer areas, suffer from gastrointestinal disease. Children who live with parents or others who smoke at home are exposed whenever a smoker lights up another cigarette. Many factors are affecting the health of these children.
One of the goals of this report is to focus on one of these factors: chemical releases into the environment from industrial activities. Chemical industrial releases are one important part of the puzzle but do not give a full picture of risk since chemicals from industry are only one type of pollutant. Human exposure levels to these chemicals, and other sources of pollution, are beyond the scope of this report. This report also aims to foster increased trilateral action to prevent and reduce children’s exposure to harmful chemicals. Its focus is an analysis of available data on one category of pollutant, toxic chemicals from data obtained from the national pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs) in North America, and emphasizes the reporting of chemical carcinogens, developmental toxicants and neurotoxicants. Although at this stage the data are available only for the United States and Canada, this report discusses in specific terms the potential impacts of these substances on the health of children in North America. It also describes the limits of what we know about these impacts based on present data. With its cross-border analysis of selected PRTR data, it provides a unique North American perspective as a basis for trilateral action. | 
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