Children are more vulnerable to environmental chemicals. Because children's systems are still developing, they are more susceptible to environmental threats. Children eat proportionately more food, drink more fluids, breathe more air, and play outside more, so they are more exposed to environmental threats. When young children crawl on the ground or floor, they are more exposed to contaminated dust and soil, lead paint, household chemicals and other substances than adults. And, regulatory exposure standards are set for healthy adults, not infants or children.
Children receive their first exposures while in their mother's womb.
That's why it's not enough to protect our children after birth, but we must protect everyone from unnecessary exposures to chemicals in our environment. It is the only way to protect today's children and the next generation. There is a growing concern among parents, and other advocates for children, over the environmental threats to our children's health. All over the country, in urban and rural settings, among low, moderate and upper income families of every ethnic and cultural background, parents are worrying about unsettling numbers of children with leukemia, cancer, asthma, learning disabilities and birth defects. In response to this concern, CHEJ has begun the Children's Environmental Health Project.