Bearer C F
Department of Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University, USA.
Future Child. 1995 Summer-Fall;5(2):11-26.
In policymaking on environmental health, it is often assumed that the entire population is exposed to and reacts to environmental contaminants in a similar manner. However, this assumption is misguided, especially where children are concerned. This article presents the scientific basis for the impacts of the environment on children, showing how children are different from adults in the ways in which they are exposed to environmental contamination and the ways in which they react to it when exposed. Specifically, the article examines the changing physical and biological environments of children. Children at different stages of development have unique physical risk factors for certain types of exposure because of changing location, levels of mobility, oxygen consumption, eating patterns, and behavior. When children are exposed to contaminants, their developing biological makeup--the way in which they absorb, distribute, and metabolize chemicals--will also affect how their bodies deal with the foreign substance. Each of these factors, along with the customs, laws, and regulations that affect the way in which children are exposed to the contaminants, had implications for the well-being of children in the years to come.
在制定环境卫生政策时，人们常常假定全体人口以相似的方式接触环境污染物并对其做出反应。然而，这种假设是错误的，尤其是在涉及儿童的情况下。本文阐述了环境对儿童影响的科学依据，展示了儿童在接触环境污染的方式以及接触后做出反应的方式上与成年人的不同之处。具体而言，本文探讨了儿童不断变化的物理和生物环境。由于位置变化、活动水平、氧气消耗、饮食模式和行为等因素，处于不同发育阶段的儿童在接触某些类型的污染物时具有独特的身体风险因素。当儿童接触污染物时，他们正在发育的生物构成——即他们吸收、分布和代谢化学物质的方式——也会影响他们的身体对外来物质的处理方式。所有这些因素，连同影响儿童接触污染物方式的习俗、法律和法规，都对未来儿童的福祉产生影响。
