The special and unique vulnerability of children to environmental hazards.

There are several factors that alter an individual's risk for an environmentally related illness. A major determinant is the developmental stage of the individual. The environment can be divided into three spheres: physical, biological and social. The components of each sphere are dependent on developmental stage. This presentation will discuss the components of each of these spheres and their variability with age. The discussion will be illustrated with known examples of environmentally related disease.