Children
and the Environment
Children,
Environmental Hazards, and Stress: How Can Parents and Children Work
Together to Cope?
When
facing exposure or a possible exposure to hazardous substances in
our environment, whether through hazardous materials in the water
supply, airborne hazards, or mercury in fish, children and parents
have to work together to reduce
the associated stress. For children in this situation, states Dr.
Pamela Tucker, Senior Medical Officer, Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry, "stress largely comes from
two sources: parental stress and disruption of their daily routines."
Their symptoms are as real as those of adults
and can include
- sleep
disturbances (e.g., resistance to bedtime,
nightmares),
- regressive
behavior (i.e., acting younger than they
are),
- fears
and anxiety (e.g., crying, dependent behavior),
- problems
in school (e.g., loss of interest, fighting),
and
- increased
complaints about illness (e.g., stomach
aches).
When
stress occurs, parents need to talk with their
children and explain to them what is happening;
providing them with simple, accurate
information. Also, parents need to keep
their children’s routine as normal as possible.
Other ways to manage stress include:
- Talking
with children about their feelings;
- Establishing
a familiar bedtime routine or leaving
a nightlight turned on;
- Providing
verbal reassurances, or frequent
attention;
- Giving
hugs or using touch as extra reassurance; and
- Talking
with teachers and school counselors about the situation and any
problems.
According
to Dr. Tucker, ATSDR has
provided information and community workshops
on how to cope with the stress of living
near a hazardous waste site, having to be
relocated because of environmental hazards,
or having been exposed to hazardous substances.
"The key objective of these activities,"
she states, "is to provide needed education
on how to prevent children from having
health effects from stress."
Adapted
from the American Psychological Association
![Kids for Saving Earth Logo](kse_finished_gif.gif) |
ATSDR Partners With Kids for Saving
Earth to Protect Children and the Environment From Hazardous
Substances
|
Kids
for Saving Earth (KSE)
is a nonprofit organization
committed to inspiring and empowering children, both nationally
and internationally,
to help protect the Earth’s environment.
The organization was founded by Clinton Hill, a young
boy, who could not understand or accept that people could so
neglect their planet:
the air, land, and water. Though Clinton
died of cancer at the age of 11, during his short life, he, with
the help of his
parents, established KSE as the premier kids
organization for peaceful Earth-saving actions. Today, Tessa
Hill, Clint’s mother,
is president of KSE, with an international
network of 4,500 schools and environmentally concerned kids
and adults. The
organization provides action-oriented educational
materials to kids, families, groups, classrooms, and
schools. Many programs
(e.g., the Children’s Forest, the Rainforest,
the Rock the World Concert Kit and compact disc [CD],
and the Wonderful World of Water) include educational posters,
certificates, guidebooks, and CDs.
ATSDR
recently sponsored a mailing of 4,000 packets
to schools nationwide. KSE worked to ensure almost half
of these packets were sent to schools located near Superfund
sites.
They contain a Teacher’s Action Guide, membership
information, and newsletter, among other colorful, fun,
informative materials. ATSDR and KSE are continuing to
work together to develop materials to help provide children
with engaging, nonthreatening, useable information on how
to protect themselves from environmental hazards in their
home, school, or on the playground. The
basic membership in the KSE network is free and
new members will receive environmental education materials
and the KSE newsletter. For more information, contact
Tessa Hill, President, KSE, P.O. Box 421118, Minneapolis,
MN 55442; phone:
(612) 559-1234; fax: (612) 559- 6980;
e-mail: kseww@aol.com; or visit
the KSE website: www.kidsforsavingearth.org.
[Table of Contents]
12 Steps
Toward A Healthier School
|
Pesticides.
Pesticides are toxic and children
should have as little exposure to these chemicals as
possible.
If a school must use pesticides, only the least toxic chemicals
should be dispensed and by trained
and licensed professionals. Parents and teachers should be notified
a day in advance, and school
buildings should be off limits until the pesticide residue is
gone. Use of pesticides outside where
children play should be avoided, unless truly needed.
|
|
Art
Supplies and Art Rooms. Because
many art supplies are toxic and become airborne, art rooms
should
have proper ventilation. Proper ventilating systems should be
installed to ensure enough outdoor
air is circulating and contaminated air is not moving into other
parts of the building.
|
|
New Carpeting.
New
carpeting and carpet backing, should be required to be formaldehyde-free.
As well,
formaldehyde-free and non-toxic adhesives should be used for
carpet installation. Formaldehyde is a respiratory irritant,
a sensitizer to other chemicals, and a carcinogen.
|
|
New
Construction and Renovations. Any
new school construction or renovation contract should
include
a requirement to use the least toxic, practical materials and
to schedule work so that children and teachers are not at risk
from compromised indoor air quality. Again in this situation,
formaldehyde-containing
woods, furniture, and carpeting should be avoided.
|
|
Playground
Equipment with Processed or Treated Wood. Processed
or treated wood is impregnated with copper and arsenic to deter
pest infestation and allow for it to be placed directly on or
into the ground. However, the arsenic, in particular, leaches
from the wood and is a human carcinogen. Because
of this, playground equipment should not be made with this type
of material. If a school already
has equipment made out of processed wood, the surfaces should
be painted to stop the arsenic
from leaching. Children should not be exposed to processed wood
that has not been sealed.
|
|
Exhaust
from Buses or Motor Vehicles. To
avoid the possibility of incoming air being contaminated with
diesel and car exhaust, buses or motor vehicles should not be
allowed to idle near the air intake area
of a school’s ventilating system. Children also should not be
allowed to wait at bus stops where many buses are idling for
long periods of time.
|
|
Damp
Areas and Areas of Damp Carpeting. Mold
can grow in areas of dampness, and many children and adults
are allergic to this mold. Molds also can cause asthma. Wet
areas and damp carpeting should
be remediated immediately.
|
|
Cleaning Products Used by the School Janitorial
Service. Cleaning
products used should be the least toxic
available to do the work that needs to be done.
|
|
Chemistry
Laboratories. Chemistry
laboratories and other labs using hazardous materials should
be properly
ventilated. As well, safeguards should be taken to ensure fumes
do not enter other parts of the
building.
|
|
Copy
Machines. Because
copy machines out-gas ozone they should be well ventilated.
They should be
placed in an open, well-ventilated location away from where
people sit or work. Ozone is harmful to lung
function.
|
|
Testing
for Radon and Lead. Schools
should be tested for radon, a colorless, odorless and tasteless
radioactive gas that emanates from rock and soil content in
the ground. At high levels radon is considered
to be a human lung carcinogen. A school’s drinking water should
be tested for lead that could
come from pipes with lead soldering.
|
|
Tobacco
Smoke. Schools
should be smoke-free environments.
|
Source:
Environment and Human Health, Inc. |
[Table of Contents]
![Note Graphic](announce.jpg)
|
Announcements
|
Handbook
of Pediatric Environmental Health
Edited by Ruth
A. Etzel, MD. 355 pp, cloth, $44.95
(nonmember), $39.95 (member), American Academy of
Pediatrics, Chicago, Illinois, October 1999.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
is spear-heading a
national effort to educate pediatricians about environmental hazards,
promote research to better understand the effects of environmental exposures
on children, and formulate
public policies protective of children. As part of this effort, AAP
published Handbook
of Pediatric Environmental Health.
This comprehensive handbook
was written for pediatricians and other
health providers who care for children to help them
identify, reduce, and eliminate potential environ-mental hazards.
The handbook features more than 30 chapters
on prevention and treatment of childhood environmental
health problems. ATSDR scientists Drs. Robert
Amler, Susan Metcalf, Christine Rosheim, and Mary
White contributed chapters to the new handbook. Topics
include how to prevent exposure to nitrates and methemoglobinemia
in infants, how to prevent mercury poisoning,
how to prevent asthma attacks by reducing exposure
to indoor and outdoor pollutants, how to respond
to questions about multiple chemical sensitivity, and
how to communicate risk to parents. Each chapter includes
a list of frequently asked questions and responses, making
this a handy desk reference for the busy
clinician. To order:
call the American
Academy of Pediatrics
at 1-888-227-1770 or for online access: http://www.aap.org.
Toward Environmental
Justice: Research, Education, and Health Policy Needs
National Research
Council, 137pp, hardbound, indexed, $37.95, ISBN: 0-309-06407-4, National
Academy Press, Washington,
D.C., 1999. Produced
by a committee of the National Research
Council,
Toward Environmental
Justice examines
this issue by identifying
environmental hazards and assessing
the risk for populations of varying ethnic, social,
and economic backgrounds. The text also looks at
the need for methodologies that uniquely suit populations
at risk. Areas explored in depth include disparities
in health status; research methodologies for
documenting exposure and susceptibility to environmental
hazards; educating health professionals, community
leaders, and the public about the proper
channels to follow to deal with inequities and empower
communities; and expanding the health policy
process to include the science base, while also acknowledging
its limitations. This publication also examines
tactics to tighten the fragmented health policy
on environmental justice and recommends methods
of better coordination among federal, state, and
local participants. To
order: National
Academy Press, 2101
Constitution Avenue, NW, Lockbox 285,
Washington, D.C., 20055; phone: 1-800-624- 6242.
Environmental
Practice: Journal of the National Association of Environmental Professionals
Environmental
Practice, which
premiered in summer
1999, is the new peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary publication
of the National Association of Environmental
Professionals (NAEP),
published by Oxford
University Press. The intended audience for the
journal is environmental practitioners in companies, agencies,
and universities. It will cover news of issues
and of the NAEP, original research articles, and
other articles of interest to government agencies, corporations,
private consultants, environmental institutions,
and others. The focus will be both historical
and contemporary environmental issues and concerns.
To order: In
the Americas: phone: 1-800- 852-7323
(USA and Canada), 1-919-677-0977; fax: 1-919-677-1714; e-mail: inlorders@oup-usa.
org. Elsewhere: phone:
+44 (0)1865 267907; fax:
+44 (0) 1865 267835; e-mail:
jnl.orders@oup.co.uk. Online access: www.oup-usa.org/journals![Exiting ATSDR Web Site](exit.gif)
Table of Contents | HSPH
Newsletter Homepage | ATSDR Home Page
This page last updated on
April 17, 2002
Contact Name: Wilma López/ WLópez@cdc.gov
|