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Review Advance Publication

Environ Health Perspect; DOI:10.1289/ehp.1408292

Children’s Health in Latin America: The Influence of Environmental Exposures

Amalia Laborde,1 Fernando Tomasina,1 Fabrizio Bianchi,2 Marie-Noel Bruné,3 Irena Buka,4 Pietro Comba,5 Lilian Corra,6 Liliana Cori,2 Christin Maria Duffert,3 Raul Harari,7 Ivano Iavarone,5 Melissa A. McDiarmid,8 Kimberly A. Gray,9 Peter D. Sly,10 Agnes Soares,11 William A. Suk,9 and Philip J. Landrigan11 
Author Affiliations close
1Faculty of Medicine, University of the Republic of Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; 2Unit of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, Pisa, Italy; 3Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health Department, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland; 4Children’s Environmental Health Centre, Department of Paediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; 5Unit of Environmental Epidemiology, Department of Environment and Primary Prevention, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy; 6Public Health Program, University of Buenos Aires and Blacksmith Institute, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 7IFA Institute for Development of Production and Work Environment, Quito, Ecuador; 8Division of Occupational Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland at Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; 9National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA; 10Queensland Children’s Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; 11Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC, USA; 12Department of Preventive Medicine and Arnhold Global Health Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
About This Article open

This EHP Advance Publication article has been peer-reviewed, revised, and accepted for publication. EHP Advance Publication articles are completely citable using the DOI number assigned to the article. This document will be replaced with the copyedited and formatted version as soon as it is available. Through the DOI number used in the citation, you will be able to access this document at each stage of the publication process.

Citation: Laborde A, Tomasina F, Bianchi F, Bruné MN, Buka I, Comba P, Corra L, Cori L, Duffert CM, Harari R, Iavarone I, McDiarmid MA, Gray KA, Sly PD, Soares A, Suk WA, Landrigan PJ. Children’s Health in Latin America: The Influence of Environmental Exposures. Environ Health Perspect; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408292.

Received: 18 February 2014
Accepted: 2 December 2014
Advance Publication: 5 December 2014

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Abstract

Background: Chronic diseases are increasing among children in Latin America.

Objective and Methods: To examine environmental risk factors for chronic disease in Latin American children and to develop a strategic initiative for control of these exposures, the World Health Organization (WHO) including the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Collegium Ramazzini, and Latin American scientists reviewed regional and relevant global data.

Findings: Industrial development and urbanization are proceeding rapidly in Latin America and environmental pollution has become widespread. Environmental threats to children’s health include traditional hazards such as indoor air pollution and drinking water contamination; as well as the newer hazards of urban air pollution; toxic chemicals such as lead, asbestos, mercury, arsenic, and pesticides; hazardous and electronic waste; and climate change. The mix of traditional and modern hazards varies greatly across and within countries reflecting industrialization, urbanization and socioeconomic forces.

Conclusions: To control environmental threats to children’s health in Latin America, WHO, including PAHO will focus on the most highly prevalent and serious hazards – indoor and outdoor air pollution, water pollution, and toxic chemicals. Strategies for controlling these hazards include developing tracking data on regional trends in children’s environmental health (CEH); building a network of Collaborating Centres; promoting biomedical research in CEH; building regional capacity; supporting development of evidence-based prevention policies; studying the economic costs of chronic diseases in children; and developing platforms for dialogue with relevant stakeholders.

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