Children's Special Vulnerabilities Children are not just little adults. They are different in many ways, particularly with regard to their exposures and responses to the environment. As nurses, we know that infants and young children breathe more rapidly than adults. This increase in respiratory rate may translate into a proportionately greater exposure to air pollutants. While infants' lungs are developing, they may also be susceptible to environmental toxicants. Behaviors characteristic of early childhood also affect a child's exposure to toxicants. In the first years of life, the young child spends hours close to the ground where he or she may be exposed to toxicants in dust, soil, and carpets, as well as to pesticide vapors in low-lying layers of air. Infants and young children drink more fluids per body weight than adults, potentially increasing the dose of contaminants (particularly pesticides) found in their drinking water, milk, and juices. "Consider the amount of water that an infant who receives formula reconstituted in boiled tap water drinks every day. The average infant consumes six ounces of formula per kilogram of body weight. For the average male adult, this is equivalent to drinking 35 cans of soda pop a day. If the water contains a contaminant, then infants will receive more of it relative to their size than will an adult."[3] Children also eat more per body weight, and they eat different proportions of food. How many adults could eat the same amount of raisins pound-for-pound as the average 2-year-old? Children consume many more fruits and fruit juices than adults, which may result in larger doses of exposure to pesticide residues. Children play on the floor, the grass, and the playground, placing them at increased risk for exposure to toxic chemicals that may be applied to or settle on the floors or ground, including lead-based paint dust, cleaning product residues, and horticultural/agricultural chemicals (fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides). The hand-to-mouth exploration of the infant and young child that helps them to learn about their world also places them at higher risk of exposures. This is particularly true in the case of lead-based paint dust when it is present in homes and schools. Because metabolic systems are still developing in children (and fetuses), their ability to detoxify and excrete toxins differs from that of adults. This difference is sometimes to children's advantage, but more frequently they are not able to excrete toxins as well as adults, and thus are more vulnerable to them. The rate at which children absorb nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract is different from the rate for adults, a fact that can affect their exposure to toxicants. For example, children have a greater need for calcium for bone development than do adults. As such, children will absorb more of this element when it is present in the gastrointestinal tract. When lead has been ingested into the gut, however, the body will absorb it in place of calcium. Consequently, an adult will absorb 10% of ingested lead, while a toddler will absorb 50% of ingested lead.[3] Some of the protective mechanisms that are well developed in adults, like the blood-brain barrier, are immature in young children, thereby making them more vulnerable to the effects of some toxic chemicals. Reference: 3. Bearer C. Environmental health hazards: how children are different from adults. Future Child. 1995;5:11-26 Source: The American Nurses Association, continuing medical education. "Children's Health and The Environment: Environmentally Healthy Homes and Communities. Posted 11/03 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.