Environmental factors contribute to more than 30% of the global burden of disease in children

Few stories are as devastating as this.

Four million children under the age of five die every year due to environmental hazards including polluted air or water, or exposure to chemicals, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. - Reuters

Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in Children Associated with Exposure to Chemical, the WHO’s newest volume in the Environmental Health Criteria series, is groundbreaking in being the first to assess the effects of chemical exposure for different stages of childhood, actually suggesting that a child’s developmental stage during which he or she is exposed may be as significant as the magnitude of exposure.

An environmental medical expert for WHO, Jenny Pronczuk, says children become susceptible to environmental hazards from conception. “For example, if you look at lead exposure. The effect of lead is going to be different if the child was exposed in utero because the mother has lead. Lead goes to the bones and the lead of the mother goes into the bones of the child that is generating the bones. So, lead exposure in utero is going to have a completely different effect than lead exposure when the child is 12 or 15 years old or 18 years old,” she said. - Voice of America

The report claims that environmental factors contribute to more than 30% of the global burden of disease in children. Those numbers don’t even tell the entire story as there is emerging evidence which suggest that adults who experience early environmental chemical exposures are at increased risk of certain diseases, including cancer and heart disease.

And god have mercy on the child who is unfortunate enough to be born into poverty.

The vulnerability of children is increased in degraded and poor environments. Neglected and malnourished children suffer the most. These children often live in unhealthy housing, lack clean water and sanitation services, and have limited access to health care and education. For example, lead is known to be more toxic to children whose diets are deficient in calories, iron and calcium. One in five children in the poorest parts of the world will not live longer than their fifth birthday, mainly because of environment-related diseases. - World Health Organisation

God have mercy indeed.

Further Reading:

• Pesticides, and You