NEW REPORT: Rights of the Child and Toxics (Sept. 2016)
A focus area for the Special Rapporteur under his mandate is the prevalence of childhood exposure to hazardous substances during critical periods of development. Studies have shown the presence of hundreds of toxic chemicals in children, even before they even leave their mother’s womb. Childhood exposure to toxic chemicals implicates a number of rights under the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified treaty in history.
It has been recognized for centuries that children are uniquely vulnerable to adverse health impacts due to toxic and otherwise hazardous substances and wastes.[1] The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 30% of the global burden of disease can be attributed to environmental factors.[2] Of this percentage, 40% of this burden falls on children under five years of age, translating into three million deaths annually.[3] It is generally accepted that “environmental risk factors act in concert and are exacerbated by adverse social and economic conditions, particularly poverty and malnutrition.”
Amongst the scientific community the understanding is increasing that many non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are initiated by early-life exposures to toxic chemicals. According to leading scientists:
“[…] exposure to toxic or endocrine-disrupting chemicals in early life can affect metabolism that changes brain growth or promotes obesity and increases later risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Evidence is increasing that adverse environmental exposures could play a substantial part in progression of NCDs, including for respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, and lung cancer; neurobehavioural disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, and other mental disorders; mild mental disability; obesity and type 2 diabetes; and childhood cancer.”[4]
According to WHO, children—including before and after birth until the completion of adolescence—are often at a different and increased risk from environmental hazards relative to those of adults for several reasons.
- Risk of higher exposure than adults
Children often have higher levels of exposure to hazardous substances found in food, water, and air compared with adults.[5] This can be due to, for example, hand-to-mouth activity and higher metabolic rates.[6] Exposure levels to environmental pollutants are often higher for children born into low-income or otherwise marginalized communities.[7] These exposures may be handled differently by a child’s immune system, relative to that of an adult.
- Exposure during critical periods of development
Exposure to certain hazardous substances during critical windows of development, when a child is developing the foundation for a healthy adult life, can carry irreversible health effects.[8]
- Long latency periods between exposure and appearance of impacts on human rights
Impacts on children’s rights may not be apparent for years, and often decades. For example, cancer may have a latency period of several decades. And, children may be impacted by indirect exposure to toxic substances by their relatives other than their mother. Exposure by one generation can result in several generations of victims, including grandchildren of the original person exposed.
- Inability of children to protect themselves
Children are defenseless to protect themselves from hazardous substances. From the time of conception, children are exposed to toxic chemicals in their mother’s womb. Long before children are able to identify risks and make informed choices for themselves, children continue to exposed to toxic chemicals in their mothers breast milk and other sources of food, the air they breathe, and water they drink. While the responsibility to protect children rests primarily with governments and secondarily with parents, significant information gaps regarding the risks of hazardous substances to children obstructs efforts to ensure necessary protective measures are in place.
Sources:
[1] WHO, Childhood Lead Poisoning, 10 (2010), available at: http://www.who.int/ceh/publications/leadguidance.pdf (“Lead poisoning has been a scourge to human health for millennia. Childhood lead poisoning has been a recognized clinical entity since the first decade of the 20th century.”).
[2] WHO, Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in Children Associated with Exposure, Environmental Health Criteria 237 (2006), available at: http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/ehc/ehc237.pdf
[3] WHO, Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in Children Associated with Exposure, Environmental Health Criteria 237 (2006), available at: http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/ehc/ehc237.pdf
[4]Peter D Sly et al., Networking to advance progress in children’s environmental health, The Lancet (March 2014), available at: http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/langlo/PIIS2214-109X%2814%2970004-X.pdf
[5] WHO, Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in Children Associated with Exposure, Environmental Health Criteria 237 (2006), available at: http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/ehc/ehc237.pdf
[6] UNEP-WHO State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals 2012 (2013). See also, WHO http://www.who.int/ceh/capacity/cancer.pdf
[7] See e.g. http://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Banned-chemical-levels-high-in-pregnant-women-2335728.php
[8] UNEP-WHO State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals 2012 (2013).