The bill, now known as Act 125, creates a new healthy schools initiative at the Vermont Department of Health.
Children are particularly vulnerable to environmental risks and contaminants.
Because their bodies are undergoing rapid growth and development, their immune systems are not fully functional. The average child eats more food, drinks more water and breathes more air per pound of body weight than an adult. In terms of environmental health risks, children can not and should not be thought of as little adults. Vermont s Comparative Risk Project served to highlight the disconnect many Vermonters experience when thinking about indoor air quality and human health risk. Despite the many technical and scientific reports and anecdotal evidence warning us of the dangers inherent in breathing indoor air contaminated by exhaust gases, volatile organic compounds, radon and other toxic air pollutants, a majority of Vermonters still do not perceive indoor air pollution as a significant environmental health concern.