PREPARED STAtement of DaNA HUGHES, M.P.H., M.S., POLICY CONSULTANT, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to present testimony on environmental toxins and children. This hearing is critical at a time of growing awareness about the need to protect and preserve the environment. While most Americans grasp the long-term implications of carelessness and indifference towards the environment, far fewer understand that our actions have critical and immediate consequences for the health and safety of the planet's most vulnerable and least culpable inhabitants: children. Children Now, a non-partisan organization devoted to educating the public about the needs of children and developing effective responses to them, prepared a report for the public and policy makers on children's special vulnerabilities to environmental toxins and pollutants. This report, entitled, "What's Gotten Into Our Children?" is a synthesis of the scientific literature examining the effects of environmental exposures on children. The report is designed to inform policy makers and parents alike on the risks to children and identify steps we can take to protect them. The major findings from this report are presented below. Why Children Are at Elevated Risk: It has been long understood that some chemicals and pollutants can cause health problems in people of all ages. A growing body of evidence indicates that children are especially sensitive to a number of substances found in the environment. However, the full extent to which children are at risk is not yet known, in part because the effects of environmental toxins are frequently subtle if not altogether invisible, at least initially. For example, the effects of cancer-causing agents, such as radon, may be undetectable for several years after exposure, making it difficult to trace the onset of the disease to the original source. In addition, not nearly enough research as has been conducted on the effects of environmental toxins on children. Instead, the bulk of research thus far has focused on adult populations, a group facing very different risks than children. Despite these limitations to our current knowledge, there exists a substantial body of evidence about the health hazards that all humans face, as well as information about the special risks to children. There are at least four reasons why children are at particularly grave risk. First, children are more vulnerable for physical reasons. Because children's bodies are still developing, they are more sensitive to substances that can interfere with the developmental process. Fetuses and newborns are especially vulnerable to damage caused by chemicals and other toxins, such as lead (Florini et al, 1990). For example, children retain as much as twice the amount of lead that they are exposed to as adults. Additionally, since children are smaller than adults, the same amount of exposure to toxins may lead to higher concentration in the smaller bodies of children. Yet most government standards are based on an average adult. Second, children's curiosity and behavior place them at risk. It is natural and important for children to play and explore. However, such activities can place them at greater risk of exposure to environmental hazards. For example, because children spend more time outdoors playing, they breathe more air for their body weight, compared to adults. This places them at greater risk from the harmful effects of air pollution. Children are also at greater risk because they tend to eat proportionally large amounts of foods produced using pesticides, such as apples and apple juice. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that the average child is exposed to four times as much of eight widely-used cancer-causing pesticides in foods as the average adult (Natural Resources Defense Council, 1989). Third, children lack the judgement to avoid danger. Unlike adults, babies and young children cannot comprehend the notion of danger. For example, young children are unable to understand the potential harm that comes from placing objects in their mouths. One of the ways in which babies and toddlers are poisoned by lead is from putting paint chips in their mouths, a common practice because the chips taste sweet. Even older children may not fully realize the importance of being careful with dangerous materials, like toxic art supplies. Finally, children have many more years ahead of them as adults. If a child is exposed to a toxic substance with a long delayed action, such as a cancer-causing material, the child may have as long as 70 or 80 years to develop disease in response to the exposure. An adult exposed to the same substance may have died of other causes before the toxic substance takes effect. Risks to Poor Children: While all children are at risk for these reasons, poor children face even greater threats from environmental hazards. Because they are more likely to live in neighborhoods and attend schools where hazards are most common, poor children are more likely to be exposed. Poor families also lack the financial resources to avoid hazards by removing them or by purchasing "alternative" products, like organic fruits and vegetables. When poor children are affected by environmental hazards, they are less likely to have the health insurance and access to health care for treatment. Finally, poor children also face greater risk because their families do not have the political influence to insist on the clean-up of hazards in their neighborhoods. Where Children Encounter Environmental Health Risks: The specific environmental risks to children can be identified in the context of where children spend their time. By looking at hazards in terms of the actual places where children will encounter them, we can more easily locate the problems at their sources and more readily find solutions. What follows is a brief summary of some of the major threats facing children and primary sources of exposure. What Children Eat: Harmful substances in food present risks to us all, but especially to children because they eat a large amount of food for their body size. When their food, such as fruit and vegetables, is tainted with toxins, children consume a disproportionate amount of the toxin. Moreover, as a proportion of all the food they eat, children tend to consume greater amounts of food that contain toxins, thus multiplying the potential risk. Among the chief environmental threat to children contained in what they eat include: o pesticides on food, which include a wide range of agricultural o heavy metals and chemicals in fish, normally one of the healthiest of o contaminated water, including chemicals, lead and other toxic substances which make their way into the water supply from improper disposal of industrial wastes, leaching from dump sites, agricultural and home use of pesticides and natural sources (Russel et al, 1987); Where Children Live: Children spend a good part of each day at home where they eat, sleep, play and study. For most children, home is a source of security, comfort and love. But there can also be things in homes that can be harmful to children, threats that parents and others may be unaware of. Among the greatest environmental threats to children found in homes are: o hazardous household products, such as most cleaning products, nail polish remover and remover, drain cleaner, anitfreeze and pesticides; o indoor air pollution, from several sources, including tobacco smoke, formaldehyde (found in some types of carpeting, wallboard, panelling and insulation) and asbestos (see discussion of asbestos below) (Lioy, 1989); o lead, which can cause kidney damage, anemia, hypertension and neurological and learning problems, is found in lead-based paint, leaded gasoline, drinking water pumped through lead pipes or copper plumbing with lead soldering; and food (Florini, 1990); and, o radon, a by-product of decaying radium and uranium, can seep into buildings through openings in the foundation and remain there without ventilation. Prolonged exposure to high levels of radon have been demonstrated to cause cancer (American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Environmental Hazards, 1989). Where Children Learn: Naturally, we are all concerned about the quality of schools and day-care. Normally, we worry about the caliber of teachers, the curriculum and the extra-curricular activities. But we must also consider how safe school buildings and grounds may be. Studies have identified a number of hazards to children's health and safety in schools and day-care centers that can be prevented or removed. These include: o hazardous art supplies, such as rubber cement, permanent felt tip markers, pottery glazes, enamels, spray fixatives and pre-packaged paper mache (Environmental and Occupational Health Information Program, 1989); o pesticides, used on or around school grounds to kill or control unwanted insects, plants, rodents and other pests, can present a danger to the children as well when they play in areas recently sprayed or breath contaminated dust; and, |