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Children's Environmental Health

What is Environmental Health?

Environmental health and protection refers to protection against environmental factors that may adversely impact human health or the ecological balances essential to long-term human health and environmental quality, whether in the natural or man-made environment.

-National Environmental Health Association, 1996

Children and Environmental Health

Toxins are plentiful in our environment. Humans are susceptible to their damaging effects; unborn babies, infants, and children are at increased risk of harm from exposure to toxins. Infants and small children spend more time on the ground and putting things in their mouths, making frequent exposure to toxins quite likely.

The primary reason for increased risk is that their body systems are developing at an extremely rapid rate. Any exposure to a chemical or other toxin has the potential to permanently impact these bodily systems during this vulnerable time. We already know, for example, that a person can suffer from abnormal facial features, growth deficiencies, and central nervous system (CNS) problems when exposed to alcohol (a toxin) as a fetus (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder). We also know that exposure to harmful substances will affect an unborn baby differently depending on the gestational age at exposure. This is because body systems develop at different times during gestation, and the system that is developing at the time of exposure is at greatest risk of harm.

Another reason fetuses, infants, and children are at an increased risk is because they have a much higher percentage of body fat than adults. In other words, the fat to muscle ratio is much higher in children than adults. Toxins are stored by the body in the fat. Adults with lower body fat percentages will not retain high concentration of these harmful chemicals, but the chemical concentration in the bodies of infants and children can become dangerously high, and well, toxic! Their developing body systems are vulnerable to the effects of these toxins.

How Can You Make A Difference?

Resources and Action Steps for parents and caregivers are provided on a variety of children's environmental health topics and can be accessed by clicking on the links below. To learn more, contact the Department of Public Health & Environment at PHE@co.washington.mn.us or 651-430-6655.

Children's Environmental Health Topics

Asthma/Indoor Air Quality

Breastfeeding

Chemical Safety

Drinking Water

Emergency Preparedness

Endocrine Disruptors

Fetal Health & Pregnancy

Food Safety & Handwashing

Home Safety

Lead

Mercury Exposure

Outdoor Air Quality

Outdoor Recreation Safety

Waste Reduction & Recycling

How Can You Make a Difference?

Action Steps for parents and caregivers are provided at the bottom of most sections under Children's Environmental Health Topics. To learn more, contact the Department of Public Health & Environment at PHE@co.washington.mn.us or 651-430-6655.

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