Environmental poisoning of children--lessons from the past.
- 1 September 1995
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Environmental Health Perspectives in Environmental Health Perspectives
- Vol. 103 (suppl 6), 19-23
- https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.95103s619
Abstract
Children have physiologic and behavioral characteristics that make them vulnerable to damage from environmental chemicals. In the past, there have been episodes in which children became ill or died from environmental exposures that spared adults or affected them less severely. Among the characteristics leading to children's sensitivity are their limited diets, dividing cells, differentiating organs and organ systems, slow or absent detoxification mechanisms, long life expectancy with the resulting ability to express damage with delayed consequences, and the severe metabolic demands of growth. There have been large outbreaks of poisonings involving children in Asia and Turkey, and some of the less obvious effects of chemicals have appeared in children in the United States. Although the United States has been spared a widespread outbreak of severe poisoning, such an incident is possible and would likely have greater consequences for children than adults.Keywords
This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
- The effect of polybrominated biphenyl on infants and young childrenThe Journal of Pediatrics, 1981
- Pediatric aspects of the Michigan polybrominated biphenyl contaminationEnvironmental Research, 1980
- Porphyria turcica. Twenty years after hexachlorobenzene intoxicationArchives of Dermatology, 1980
- Hexachlorobenzene (HCB): A reviewEnvironmental Research, 1979
- BREAST-MILK MONITORING TO MEASURE MICHIGAN'S CONTAMINATION WITH POLYBROMINATED BIPHENYLSThe Lancet, 1978
- Lymphocyte Function of Michigan Dairy Farmers Exposed to Polybrominated BiphenylsScience, 1978
- HOUSEHOLD‐CONTACT ASBESTOS NEOPLASTIC RISK*Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1976
- POLYCHLORBIPHENYLS (PCB) INDUCED FETOPATHYThe Kurume Medical Journal, 1972
- Decrease in Eggshell Weight in Certain Birds of PreyNature, 1967
- Diffuse Pleural Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure in the North Western Cape ProvinceOccupational and Environmental Medicine, 1960