Why are children at greater risk?
Reporter: Wendy Mesley; Producer: Gaelyne Leslie; Researcher: Louisa Jaslow
Dr. Gideon Koren is a pediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Koren says young children are especially vulnerable, partly because of exposure. Everything goes in their mouths and they virtually live on the floor:
Their body systems and organs are not fully developed (developing organs are more sensitive to environmental toxicants): a newborn baby has the “framework�?for the structures that control respiration, heartbeat, reflexes and bone growth but the organ development continues for 10 �?15 years.
Neurological development is ongoing during childhood, with very crucial stages occurring during pregnancy, infancy and early childhood.
The way in which, and extent to which they metabolize chemicals are very different than in adults.
They exhibit behaviours that increase their contact with chemical toxicants (closer to the floor, i.e. their breathing zone is different, hand to mouth activity, time spent indoors, play).
www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/home/cleaners/kids.html
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