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Did you know? Currently, there are more than 86,000 chemicals registered with the EPA for use commercially in the US, many of which haven’t been studied for safety to children’s health. Many of these chemicals make their way into our shopping carts and our homes through everyday consumer products, building materials, and furnishings. Children can be exposed to toxic ingredients via inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact.
We may be exposed to potentially harmful chemical ingredients in products, but it is also important to recognize the potential harms of the full lifecycle of production. The people working at and families living near manufacturing plants, including petrochemical plants producing plastics or pesticides, for example, often bear disproportionate exposures to toxic pollution. Families living near these sites are most often families of color or families with lower wealth.
The Children’s Environmental Health Network is working towards transformative change to ensure that carcinogens, hormone disruptors, neurotoxicants, and other dangerous chemicals never make it to our shelves, let alone into children’s developing bodies. Together, we can bring about a just transition to a toxic-free economy.
Personal care products like lotion, shampoo, cosmetics, sun screen, and perfume are common ways that adults and children are exposed to harmful chemicals.
A survey by Environmental Working Group found that, through personal care products:
A wide variety of chemicals that can be harmful to our health and the environment are used as ingredients within common cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products. These chemicals can make indoor air unhealthy to breathe, irritate the skin and eyes, harm the respiratory tract and endocrine system, increase cancer risks, and pollute the natural environment.
Consumers can choose products that have been certified as healthier for humans and environments by a reputable, independent third party certification program like EPA’s Safer Choice, EPA’s Safer Choice Fragrance Free, EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) , GreenSeal or EcoLogo. Consumers can also choose to make their own simple cleaning products.
Children's toys and art supplies can contain endocrine disrupting chemicals, lead, cadmium, asbestos, organic solvents, and other toxic ingredients. Luckily, there are safer options on the market, too (see What you can do).
Certain plastics contain chemicals that are harmful to health even at low levels of exposure. Soft, flexible plastics are often made with chemicals called phthalates, and some hard clear plastics can be made with a chemical compound called bisphenol-A (BPA). These ingredients interfere with hormones (such as estrogen and testosterone) and may disrupt a child’s normal development and growth, especially if the child is exposed to these chemicals over long periods of time, including while still in the womb.
In a study of more than 6,000 pregnant women, researchers with the National Institutes of Health found that a higher concentration of phthalates in urine samples correlated to a greater likelihood of preterm births. The research also found that reducing exposure to phthalate levels by 50% could prevent preterm births by close to 12%. Preterm birth is a top cause of newborn death and long-term health and developmental concerns.
Phthalates can be found in PVC (polyvinyl chloride), plastic (e.g,.vinyl lunchboxes, raincoats, bath books, rubber duckies, and beach balls), food packaging, and fragranced products. Bisphenol A (BPA) can be found in baby bottles, water bottles, sippy cups, regular drinking cups, canned food liners, and receipts. Art and craft supplies can contain toxic ingredients that can cause immediate and/or long-term health effects. Lead, cadmium, asbestos, and organic solvents are sometimes used to enhance pigmentation, preserve art products, and improve their application. These toxic ingredients can trigger asthma, allergies, headaches, and nausea, especially if used in a poorly ventilated area.
Pesticides are substances that kill or control pests, such as insects, weeds, and rodents. These compounds can be found in food, air (e.g., pesticide drift from agricultural uses and spraying of parks, areas around homes, schools, and child care facilities), water (e.g., pesticides can enter our groundwater and surface water via contaminated soil), soil, and dust. Pesticides can also be tracked into homes, schools, or child care environments on shoes and clothing.Exposure occurs by breathing airborne pesticides, eating and drinking contaminated food and water, and via absorption through the skin or eyes.
Prenatal and childhood exposure to pesticides contribute to serious childhood health impacts, including:
Pesticides can also have harmful environmental impacts, including poisoning wildlife, contaminating water, killing beneficial insects (e.g., bees and ladybugs, which are important for pollination and natural pest control), and building up in the environment over time, leading to long-term contamination.
Fortunately, there are methods of pest control that are less harmful, like Integrated Pest Management and organic practices.
In 2021, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued important guidance advising certain vulnerable populations (including children and pregnant people) to avoid getting dental amalgam fillings, which are a source of unnecessary mercury exposure to patients but also a significant source of mercury released to our environment, which we are then also exposed to. Mercury is a potent neurotoxicant that can adversely impact children’s development.
The use of dental amalgam – which is 50% mercury – in federally operated or funded programs such as the Indian Health Service and Medicaid is an environmental injustice that needs to be addressed. People of color and those with lower-incomes are more likely to be served by these federal programs. These children are more vulnerable to the related health and developmental impacts from dental amalgam mercury exposure due to cumulative toxicant exposures and other risk factors.
With affordable high-quality mercury-free filling materials available and the decline in amalgam use by private dentists, an end to dental amalgam purchase and use in all federal programs is achievable. CEHN works with partners to eliminate the use of mercury in dentistry. Our collective work has led to progress: amalgam use is now disfavored by FDA, by WHO, and by the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and many countries have phased it out. We continue to work with federal agencies to end federal amalgam use.
Toxic chemicals, which are prevalent in our everyday environments, are hazards that pose significant risk for development of childhood cancer. Children are especially vulnerable to environmental hazards like pollution and toxicants in food, toys, and personal products.
Scientists and health professionals have sounded the alarm for years that pesticides, traffic-related air pollution, and paints and solvents are linked to the most common childhood cancers. The data supports increased focus on environmental hazards: there’s been a 41% increase in childhood cancer incidence since 1975, and genetics and advances in screening can’t account for this alone. Today, cancer is the number one disease-related cause of death for children. In the US, 46 children are diagnosed every day. That’s 16,000 kids who are diagnosed each year in our country.
