Environmental Health, Center for Population Health Research, National Institute of Public Health (INSP), Universidad No 655, Col Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cerrada Los Pinos y Caminera Cuernavaca, Morelos CP 62100, México.
Environ Health. 2010 Mar 23;9:14. doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-9-14.
Since Mexico's joining the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1994, it has witnessed rapid industrialization. A byproduct of this industrialization is increasing population exposure to environmental pollutants, of which some have been associated with childhood disease. We therefore identified and assessed the adequacy of existing international and Mexican governance instruments and policy tools to protect children from environmental hazards.
We first systematically reviewed PubMed, the Mexican legal code and the websites of the United Nations, World Health Organization, NAFTA and OECD as of July 2007 to identify the relevant governance instruments, and analyzed the approach these instruments took to preventing childhood diseases of environmental origin. Secondly, we interviewed a purposive sample of high-level government officials, researchers and non-governmental organization representatives, to identify their opinions and attitudes towards children's environmental health and potential barriers to child-specific protective legislation and implementation.
We identified only one policy tool describing specific measures to reduce developmental neurotoxicity and other children's health effects from lead. Other governance instruments mention children's unique vulnerability to ozone, particulate matter and carbon monoxide, but do not provide further details. Most interviewees were aware of Mexican environmental policy tools addressing children's health needs, but agreed that, with few exceptions, environmental policies do not address the specific health needs of children and pregnant women. Interviewees also cited state centralization of power, communication barriers and political resistance as reasons for the absence of a strong regulatory platform.
The Mexican government has not sufficiently accounted for children's unique vulnerability to environmental contaminants. If regulation and legislation are not updated and implemented to protect children, increases in preventable exposures to toxic chemicals in the environment may ensue.
自 1994 年墨西哥加入北美自由贸易协定（NAFTA）和经济合作与发展组织（OECD）以来，它经历了快速的工业化。这种工业化的一个副产品是人口接触环境污染物的增加，其中一些与儿童疾病有关。因此，我们确定并评估了现有的国际和墨西哥治理工具和政策工具，以保护儿童免受环境危害。
我们首先系统地审查了截至 2007 年 7 月的 PubMed、墨西哥法规和联合国、世界卫生组织、NAFTA 和经合组织的网站，以确定相关的治理工具，并分析了这些工具在预防环境源性儿童疾病方面采取的方法。其次，我们采访了一些政府高级官员、研究人员和非政府组织代表，以了解他们对儿童环境健康的看法和态度，以及针对儿童的具体保护立法和实施的潜在障碍。
我们只确定了一种政策工具，描述了减少儿童发育神经毒性和其他儿童健康影响的具体措施。其他治理工具提到了臭氧、颗粒物和一氧化碳对儿童的独特脆弱性，但没有提供进一步的细节。大多数受访者都意识到了墨西哥针对儿童健康需求的环境政策工具，但他们一致认为，除了少数例外，环境政策并没有针对儿童和孕妇的具体健康需求。受访者还列举了权力集中化、沟通障碍和政治阻力等原因，认为缺乏强大的监管平台。
墨西哥政府没有充分考虑到儿童对环境污染物的独特脆弱性。如果不更新和实施监管和立法来保护儿童，可能会导致对环境中可预防的有毒化学品的暴露增加。
