Another study investigated PCB levels in individuals residing on a Mohawk reservation downstream from pollution sources on the St. Lawrence River. PCBs were found in the breast milk and urine of women who ate fish caught in the river. The PCB concentrations in the urine of breast-fed infants were ten times higher than in the urine of their mothers. Longer Lifetimes Children have more years of future life than most adults. Therefore, they have more time to develop any chronic diseases that might be triggered by early environmental exposures.
Many diseases initiated by chemical hazards require decades to develop.
Early childhood exposure to certain carcinogens or toxicants may be more likely to lead to disease than the same exposures experienced later in life. Though children's unique vulnerability to environmental risk is now an accepted scientific axiom, much remains to be done to safeguard the next generation. Research identifying new types of toxic effects that have potentially significant impacts on children, such as endocrine disruption or immunotoxicity, is critical. Further study is important for determining how certain doses and health endpoints may be of primary concern in adults while different doses and endpoints may be more relevant to children. More scientific research is imperative.