Reason Foundation  Reason Foundation  Protecting the Children
Risk Assessment, Risk Management, and Children's Environmental
Health  Gail Charnley June 1, 2001  Executive Summary  Concern
about the impact of the environment on health has become almost
a religious issue in the United States, and one of the most
controversial health issues is how best to protect children from
environmental contaminants. Our ability to assess risks to
children’s health from chemical contaminants in the environment
has become more sophisticated, as children’s special behavior
and consumption patterns are studied and factored in. Our
understanding of the potential developmental toxicity of
chemicals, especially developmental neurotoxicity, is
incomplete, however, and should be improved. Surprisingly, data
show that children generally are not more susceptible to
chemical toxicity than adults, and that where differences do
occur they are small, especially at low environmental exposures.
Some $100 to $150 billion are spent every ye