Last Updated: February 20, 2019
Description
General: Young Children and Home Hazards
Image: UNC CEHS COEC
Big idea: We focus on children because they are especially vulnerable to home health hazards.
Talking points:
Children’s bodies are still growing and are more likely to be harmed by chemicals and other dangers than those of adults.
- For their size, children eat more food, drink more water, and breathe more air than adults do, giving them larger doses of toxins. Children are more likely to have nutritional deficiencies that lead to increased absorption of lead
- Children’s gastrointestinal tracts absorb differently than adults; in terms of lead, their system will absorb more (50% of ingested lead) than an adult’s system (10% of ingested lead)
Sources:
American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Environmental Health, 2003
World Health Organization
Nutrition and Lead: Strategies for Public Health, Environmental Health Perspectives, 1995
Categories: General