Uploaded September 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
October is recognized as Children’s Health Month and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created a list of resources (EPA1) to help spread public awareness about protecting children from a number of potential environmental exposure risks.
Understanding these risks is important as the agency reports that children are often more vulnerable to pollutants than adults due to differences in behavior and biology that can lead to greater exposure and/or unique windows of susceptibility during development.
For example, children may be more vulnerable to chemicals and organisms they are exposed to in the environment because:
• Children’s nervous, immune response, digestive and other bodily systems are still developing and are more easily harmed
• Children eat more food, drink more fluids and breathe more air than adults in proportion to their body size – so it is important to take extra care to ensure the safety of their food, drink and air
• They way children behave – such as crawling and placing objects in their mouths – can increase their risk of exposure to chemicals and organisms in the environment
Some of the more common environmental exposure risks children may encounter at home or in daycare centers, schools and playgrounds could include lead in paint, dust, soil or water; damp and moldy indoor environments; mercury; PCBs; pesticides; cleaning chemicals; wildfire smoke; tobacco smoke; e-cigarette vapors; radon; asbestos; particulate matter; asthma triggers such as dust mites, cockroaches, rodents and pet dander; carbon monoxide; contaminated water; ticks that spread Lyme disease; sewer gas; and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to name a few.
Another important thing to remember is that children are dependent upon adults to ensure that their environment is safe. Fortunately, there are professionals that offer testing and inspection services to help determine if any of these or other environmental exposure risks are present.
These are just a few things to know about Children’s Health Month and some of the more common indoor and outdoor environmental exposure risks. To learn more about this or other building science, environmental, indoor air quality, health or safety issues, please visit the websites shown below.
Clark Seif Clark csceng.com
EMSL Analytical, Inc. emsl.com
LA Testing latesting.com
Zimmetry Environmental zimmetry.com
Healthy Indoors Magazine healthyindoors.com
October is recognized as Children’s Health Month and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created a list of resources (EPA1) to help spread public awareness about protecting children from a number of potential environmental exposure risks.
Understanding these risks is important as the agency reports that children are often more vulnerable to pollutants than adults due to differences in behavior and biology that can lead to greater exposure and/or unique windows of susceptibility during development.
For example, children may be more vulnerable to chemicals and organisms they are exposed to in the environment because:
• Children’s nervous, immune response, digestive and other bodily systems are still developing and are more easily harmed
• Children eat more food, drink more fluids and breathe more air than adults in proportion to their body size – so it is important to take extra care to ensure the safety of their food, drink and air
• They way children behave – such as crawling and placing objects in their mouths – can increase their risk of exposure to chemicals and organisms in the environment
Some of the more common environmental exposure risks children may encounter at home or in daycare centers, schools and playgrounds could include lead in paint, dust, soil or water; damp and moldy indoor environments; mercury; PCBs; pesticides; cleaning chemicals; wildfire smoke; tobacco smoke; e-cigarette vapors; radon; asbestos; particulate matter; asthma triggers such as dust mites, cockroaches, rodents and pet dander; carbon monoxide; contaminated water; ticks that spread Lyme disease; sewer gas; and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to name a few.
Another important thing to remember is that children are dependent upon adults to ensure that their environment is safe. Fortunately, there are professionals that offer testing and inspection services to help determine if any of these or other environmental exposure risks are present.
These are just a few things to know about Children’s Health Month and some of the more common indoor and outdoor environmental exposure risks. To learn more about this or other building science, environmental, indoor air quality, health or safety issues, please visit the websites shown below.
Clark Seif Clark csceng.com
EMSL Analytical, Inc. emsl.com
LA Testing latesting.com
Zimmetry Environmental zimmetry.com
Healthy Indoors Magazine healthyindoors.com
