Benzene, a known carcinogen, preferentially damages blood cells. The article by toxicologist Alan L. Rosas, Ph.D., extends the discussion to sampling of air toxics and demonstrates, through the example of the work of the Air Subcommittee of the 1993-1995 Houston Environmental Foresight Project, the inadequacies both of regional monitoring data and of the current health risk assessment process. Three articles focus on the health effects of air toxics. They discuss, respectively, the special vulnerability of children, the role of particulates, and the insidious nature of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Children inhale, ingest, and absorb significantly higher quantities of toxic chemicals per body weight than do adults.
Children are closest to the ground, where most air pollutants are concentrated.
Children are most vulnerable to toxic chemicals because their brains and other organs are still developing and because they have inadequate immunologic and other defenses against toxic chemicals and metals. Children of parents exposed to certain pesticides and chemicals are more likely to have birth defects or to develop cancer during childhood. The incidences of brain cancer and leukemia have risen in children over the past two decades. Frequent pesticide use around the home is associated with an increased incidence of brain cancer in children. Toxic chemicals can affect thyroid hormones, which control early brain development.