Question

Describe the selected environmental factor that affects children. Explain how the environmental factor you selected can potentially affect the health or safety of infants.

Answer 1

Children can be affected by various environmental risks such as:

Ø Air pollution

Ø Lack of water and inadequate sanitation

Ø Disease vectors

Ø Chemical hazards

Ø Electronic waste

Ø Injuries

Ø Global environmental change

Ø Radiation

Ø Emerging issues

Ø Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

Ø Early life opportunities

Air pollution: Air pollution is a major environment-related health threat to children and a risk factor for both acute and chronic respiratory disease. While second-hand tobacco smoke and certain outdoor pollutants are known risk factors for respiratory infections, indoor air pollution from solid fuels is one of the major contributors to the global burden of disease. In poorly ventilated dwellings, indoor smoke can be 100 times higher than acceptable levels for small particles. Exposure is particularly high among children, who spend the most time near the domestic hearth.

Lack of water and inadequate sanitation: A child’s well-being is highly dependent on both the quality and the availability of water, and on how well this precious resource is managed. Around the world, both biological disease agents and chemical pollutants are compromising drinking-water quality. Contaminated water causes a range of diseases which are often life-threatening. Of the waterborne diseases affecting children, the most deadly are diarrhoeal infections. Childhood diarrhoea is closely associated with insufficient water supply, inadequate sanitation, water contaminated with communicable disease agents, and poor hygiene practices.

Disease vectors: Major global demographic, environmental and societal changes occurring in the last decade contribute to the re-emergence of vector-borne and other diseases, many of which have an important impact on children’s health and development. A considerable proportion of the disease burden for four key vector-borne diseases malaria, schistosomiasis, Japanese encephalitis and dengue haemorrhagic fever falls on children under five years of age.

Chemical hazards: The use of chemicals has increased dramatically due to the economic development in various sectors including industry, agriculture and transport. As a consequence, children are exposed to a large number of chemicals of both natural and man-made origin. Exposure occurs through the air they breathe, the water they drink or bathe in, the food they eat, and the soil they touch (or ingest as toddlers). They are exposed virtually wherever they are: at home, in the school, on the playground, and during transport. Sound management of chemicals, particularly heavy metals, pesticides and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), is a prerequisite for the protection of children’s health. Due to the magnitude of their health impact on children, the initial focus for action should be placed on the so-called “intellectual robbers” : lead, mercury and polychlorinated biphenyl, as well as on pesticides, but this by no means implies that other chemicals should be ignored.

Electronic waste: Children are especially vulnerable to the health risks that may result from e-waste exposure and, therefore, need more specific protection. As they are still growing, children’s intake of air, water and food in proportion to their weight is significantly increased compared to adults, - and with that, the risk of hazardous chemical absorption. Furthermore, their bodies’ functional systems such as the central nervous, immune, reproductive and digestive system are still developing and exposure to toxic substances, by hampering further development, may cause irreversible damage. Many children are exposed to e-waste-derived chemicals in their daily life due to unsafe recycling activities that are often conducted at their home- either by family members or by the children themselves. Furthermore, children may be exposed through dump sites located close to their homes, schools and play areas.

Injuries: In 2012, 391 000 children aged 0-14 died from unintentional injuries, including road injuries, poisonings, falls, fire, exposure to heat and hot substances, drowning, exposure to forces of nature, and other unintentional injuries. Children are not only affected by injuries to themselves, but also by injury to others. The loss or disability of parents or caregivers - or indeed of other members of the family - can have a profound effect on young people as they live with the ongoing effects of the financial burden and loss of income within the family that non-fatal injuries can cause.

Global environmental change: Large-scale and global environmental hazards to human health include climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, loss of biodiversity, changes in hydrological systems and the supplies of freshwater, land degradation and stresses on food-producing systems. These processes influence the risks of vector-borne diseases, water and food-borne diarrhoea, and malnutrition, which are among the major burdens of disease in the developing world, and are disproportionately concentrated on children. In addition, as environmental degradation acts over a long-term and is potentially irreversible, children have the most to gain from measures to safeguard the integrity of natural ecosystems.

Radiation: Radiation has always been a natural part of our environment. Natural radioactive sources in the soil, water and air contribute to our exposure to ionizing radiation, as well as man-made sources resulting from mining and use of naturally radioactive materials in power generation, nuclear medicine, consumer products, military and industrial applications.

Children are in a dynamic state of growth and are more susceptible to environmental threats than adults. For instance, in the case of sun exposure:

· sun exposure during childhood and adolescence appears to set the stage for the development of both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers in later in life

· a significant part of a person’s lifetime exposure occurs before age 18

· children have more time to develop diseases with long latency, more years of life to be lost and more suffering to be endured as a result of impaired health.

Emerging issues: Environmental exposure is increasing and affecting children's environmental health all over the world and emerging risks are being identified everyday. Increasing industrialization, explosive urban population growth, lack of pollution control, global climate change, ozone depletion, electromagnetic radiation, unabated waste dumping, non-sustainable consumption of natural resources, unsafe use and contamination of chemicals, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and use of dangerous substances all contribute to affecting the environment and health of children.

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and potential EDCs are mostly man-made, found in various materials such as pesticides, metals, additives or contaminants in food, and personal care products. EDCs have been suspected to be associated with altered reproductive function in males and females; increased incidence of breast cancer, abnormal growth patterns and neurodevelopmental delays in children, as well as changes in immune function.

Early life opportunities: Environmental conditions concern also widespread diseases such as overweight and obesity that affects an estimated 42 million children worldwide. We know more today about intrauterine and early life exposures that may lead to disease during adult life. Developing countries face an added burden of poverty, communicable diseases due to lack of safe water and sanitation and acute respiratory infections due to high levels of indoor air pollution in combination with unhealthy housing