Policy Watch:
Pesticides and Children's Health
As
new science unfolds daily, we come to understand better
that children are not just small adults. The outmoded
methods that we use to protect children from toxic pollutants
like pesticides –
often simply adding a safety factor of 10 to the ‘acceptable’
adult exposure levels – are not nearly as protective
as once thought. Because children’s bodily systems
are still developing, because they take in so much more
food and water relative to their body size than adults
do, and because they spend so much more time exploring
the ground and objects where contaminants settle, children
can be much more vulnerable to toxic pollutants like pesticides.
In light of these considerations, physicians and children’s advocates urge a precautionary approach to protect the developing fetus, infants and children from environmental toxicants. The polluters, on the other hand, want to precisely quantify pollutants’ effects on children before taking any meaningful steps to reduce exposures. The resulting political squabble has left parents and local communities on their own to decide how to handle toxic hazards to their children.
Local
Policies
Local efforts to reduce children’s exposures to toxic
contaminants include innovative approaches and alternatives
to toxics, such as:
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Eliminating pesticides from parks and other public areas used by children. Cities and towns across the US and Canada, including Carrboro NC, Seattle WA and Toronto Canada use Integrated Pest Management instead of spraying parks and playing fields.
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Local implementation of the Precautionary Principle in making environmental decisions, as in San Francisco.
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Farm-to-school programs that encourage fresh, organic and local produce in school cafeterias. Check out Toxic Free NC’s resource page on community-supported food projects.
Children’s
Health Research
Researchers are also looking at the ways children can be
affected by toxics in the environment.
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The National Institutes of Health have begun a long-term study of 100,000 US children that will examine the effects of environmental contaminants on a broad range of health topics, including obesity, asthma & allergies, and child growth & development. Children from several North Carolina counties will participate in the study population.
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The US Centers for Disease Control are conducting an ongoing study of pervasive pollution in the human body in their National Reports on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. This “body burden” study has found that children have much higher levels of many pesticides in their bodies than adults do. Additional contaminants are added to the monitoring data in each report. The Fourth National Report is due out in late 2009 and will include data on 75 new chemicals, including brominated flame retardants.
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Excellent resources are available to help you follow research on children’s environmental health, including the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (Children’s health edition) and www.environmentalhealthnews.org.
Chemical
Industry’s Tactics
The chemical industry wants quantified, undeniable proof of the specific harms
caused to children by environmental contaminants before
governments may take action to protect children. To that end,
industry is sponsoring both research and public relations
campaigns to both promote a
“green” image and weaken restrictions on their
products, or prevent new restrictions being enacted.
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Sowing doubt. The chemical industry spends many millions of dollars annually on research and “product defense” consultants whose job is to cast doubt on scientific evidence that brings the safety of their products into question. These tactics were developed largely in the era of Big Tobacco, and are now being widely used by companies who lobby federal regulators and agencies such as the Food & Drug Administration, US Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control, and of course Congress. The Obama administration has responded by announcing steps to restore the “integrity of science” to government processes; however the influence of science-for-hire on public perception and politics remains widespread and extremely well-funded.
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Greenwashing. Heightened consumer awareness has led many product manufacturers to place “eco-friendly” labels on their products, but recent investigations show that such labels are usually vague, meaningless or unverifiable. For example, TerraChoice’s 2009 report on Greenwashing for the Canadian government’s EcoLogo program found that 98% of eco-labeled products committed at least one greenwashing sin, such as lack of proof, intentionally-vague language or "hidden trade-offs" – the practice of emphasizing a product's green aspects while concealing others that are environmentally damaging.
Keep up with the latest news on the misuse of science from Environmental Health News: