Children Are Different From Adults!
Children are both exposed to more pollution and are more susceptible to the effects of this exposure.

Increased Exposure
Children are exposed to more pollution per unit of body weight than adults are.

Children breathe, eat, and drink more for their body weight than adults. This increase percentage of intake means that the amount of pollution in our air, food, and water has a much more significant effect on children's health than it does on the health of an adult.

Children's behavior also increases their exposure to environmental toxicants. Children touch more things and put more things in their mouths as a way of exploring their environment. Also, their close proximity to the ground and car exhaust pipes increases their exposure.

Increased Susceptibility
Children's bodies react differently to environmental toxicants than adults' do.

Children are often less able to metabolize and remove foreign compounds than adults. In addition, children's bodies often absorb these compounds at a higher rate than adults do.

Children's immune systems are still immature and are often not developed enough to provide adequate protection from environmental toxins.

Children's bodies are still developing, and exposure to environmental toxins has an impact on how this development progresses. Developmental problems can manifest themselves as physical deficits and disorders as well as disorders of the central nervous system resulting in psychological deficits.

Because children are still at the beginning of their lives, the effects of environmental toxicants have more time to accumulate and manifest themselves.