Over the past few decades, researchers have begun to focus on environmental exposures as contributing factors to the decline in children's health.

Experts say children are more vulnerable to environmental toxins partly because of their high metabolic rate. Children breathe more oxygen and ingest more fluids and food, pound for pound, compared to adults. Therefore, more contaminated air will pass through their small bodies than through adults.

In addition, compared to adults, children have more skin area relative to their volume, resulting in increased exposure through physical contact.

Children are also more susceptible to toxins because they are still developing. In their first few years, a child's brain and nervous system, lungs and reproductive organs are rapidly developing, which toxins may disrupt. The kidneys and liver are also not completely formed, making it more difficult to remove toxins from the body.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 25 percent of children in the United States are exposed to lead in their homes. Lead paint was banned in 1978; however, 80 percent of U.S. homes were built before that ruling. In children, lead has been linked to lower IQ, reading problems, stunted growth, hearing impairment, attention and speech deficits, as well as antisocial and aggressive behavior.

The National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES) revealed the average level of lead in the blood of children has reduced by about 80 percent since the 1970s. Roughly 310,000 children in the U.S. between age one and five have blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter, the level the CDC's set at which public action should be taken. Lead poisoning often goes unnoticed because of the lack of obvious symptoms.

Libby McDonald, author of The Toxic Sandbox, recommends purchasing a home testing kit from a hardware store to test lead levels in your house. She says you can also enlist an environmental company to have a more in-depth investigation of your home performed.

In old homes, maintain all painted surfaces to prevent chipping of possible lead based paint. Keep the area around your windows clean to prevent dust from lead paint from being released into the air when they're opened. Have your child's blood levels tested. If you have lead pipes, run the cold water for 30 to 60 seconds before drinking or cooking with it. Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA air filter, which can remove airborne particles, including lead.

Coal-burning power plants release mercury into the atmosphere where it can then enter our water system. People are mostly exposed to the methylmercury, an organic form highly toxic to the nervous system, when they consume fish and shellfish. Almost everyone has small amounts of mercury present in their bodies.

The CDC said the most common way children are exposed to methylmercury is by eating fish or during their time in their mother's womb. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), children exposed to mercury in the womb have been shown to have impaired cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills.

The CDC estimates that about 16 percent of U.S. women have blood mercury levels high enough to double their risk of their child having learning disabilities and/or neurological impairments. Until 2001, ethylmercury could be found in many childhood vaccines, but studies have shown it is not harmful and does not contribute to the development of autism.

Phthalates, or the chemicals that make plastic soft and flexible, can be found everywhere -- toys, shower curtains, medical tubing, perfume, nail polish, lotion and shampoo -- including baby lotion and shampoo. They have been linked to the feminization of baby boys. A June 2005 study found the babies of mothers with the highest levels of phthalate levels had the smallest penises and scrotums. A 2008 study at the University of Washington in Seattle found 81 percent of infants had detectable levels of 7 or more phthalate metabolites in their urine.

More Information:

Libby McDonald -- libmac@earthlink.net
ToxicSandbox.com
Ewg.com
TheGreenGuide.com