CORDIS Archive

August
2002

Canaries in the coalmines

Developing children could be the most sensitive indicators of the health of the population. A joint report from the EU Environment Agency and the WHO Regional Office for Europe examines in detail the issues of children's health and the environment in Europe.

The Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, held in London in 1999, studied the relationship between the physical environment and children's health, identifying both research imperatives and priorities for public health policies. Until then the issue had been considered in terms of the toxicology of environmental contaminants, risk assessment and strategies for risk reduction. This conference, and the report of background studies which contributed to it, turn the focus onto children's development, from pre-conception to adolescence, and the implications of different environmental risks experienced at particular stages. Both bring together the viewpoints of scientists and policy-makers in an attempt to understand the multicausal problem, and ultimately to direct this knowledge into strategy.

The first to suffer

Studying the effects of the environment on children is vital, not only for their sake, but also because as the most vulnerable, they may be the first to suffer from things that have life-long implications for them and their children. In order to develop protective policies, we need to collect a great deal more data on possible associations between health and environmental agents like tobacco smoke, chemicals including pesticides, electromagnetic fields and ultraviolet radiation. Many agents may be synergistic in their effects. Also the detrimental effects of any environmental agent may be magnified by such features of a less than privileged life as poor diet and water supply, lack of healthcare or lack of information.

In the 51 countries of the WHO European region, the health of children is, in the main, satisfactory. But there are signs that diseases previously under control, such as diphtheria and tuberculosis, are resurging. Chronic diseases including asthma and allergies are becoming more prevalent; and substance abuse, mental disorders and injuries are also causing increasing concern. Infant mortality is hardly falling in many less-developed countries or among the disadvantaged groups of Western Europe.

The risk to children's health depends as much on exposure to environmental factors as on genetic predisposition. Children in Europe may be exposed to over 15,000 synthetic chemicals, and concern focuses on those which disrupt the endocrine system. Because of their immature metabolisms, children are worse protected than adults against chemicals (apart from a few instances). They also have more years of life ahead, so have more time to develop chronic diseases either triggered by environmental exposure or determined by continuous exposure, like leukaemia and sunlight-induced skin cancer. Children are susceptible even before conception, as exposure of either parent can affect a future foetus: a father's cigarette-smoking has been associated with an increased cancer risk in his children.

Young children, with their inadequate immune systems, are greatly harmed by waterborne and foodborne bacterial and viral diseases. But later in childhood, injuries present a significant risk and 30-40% of child deaths in Europe are as a result of accidents - from falling, fire, chemicals, medicines, drowning - and especially from transport.

The Fourth Ministerial Conference is planned for Budapest in 2004, and will address the wide range of strategies and targets being put in place by the UN, G8, WHO and EU, among them the phasing out of leaded petrol in Europe by 2005. The final declaration of the Third Conference called on these bodies and other international organisations, national governments and NGOs to share in the responsibilities of promoting research, providing education, training and technical assistance and ensuring public participation. The acknowledgement that children are at the heart of sustainable development makes the promotion of their health and wellbeing a fundamental priority.