The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first ever report highlighting children’s special susceptibility to harmful chemical exposures at different periods of their growth.
This new volume of the WHO is in cooperation with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) within the International Programme on Chemical Safety. Published as part of the WHO Environmental Health Criteria series, Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in Children Associated with Exposure to Chemicals, is the most comprehensive work yet undertaken on the scientific principles to be considered in assessing health risks in children. It highlights the fact that in children, the stage in their development when exposure occurs may be just as important as the magnitude of the exposure.
Children have different susceptibilities during different life stages, due to their dynamic growth and developmental processes. Emerging evidence suggests that an increased risk of certain diseases in adults such as cancer and heart disease can result in part from exposures to certain environmental chemicals during childhood.
Additionally, those exposed in childhood not only suffer from degraded but also poor environments. Neglected and malnourished children suffer the most. One in five children in the poorest parts of the world will not live longer than their fifth birthday, mainly because of environment-related diseases.
Thus the central focus of this study is on periods of childhood including developing embryo, foetus, infant and adolescent, as well as on the need to have a good understanding of the interactions between exposure, biological susceptibility, and socio-economic and nutritional factors at each stage of a child’s development.
The report has been subjected to the most intense expert scrutiny as 24 scientific experts, representing 18 countries, formed an advisory group to provide insight, expertise, and guidance, so as to ensure scientific accuracy and objectivity. Then once the text was finalized, it was sent to over 100 contact points throughout the world for review and comment, and also made available on WHO’s International Programme of Chemical Safety (IPCS) web site for external review and comment for a period of two months.