Key Points

posted on Aug 23, 2021

Children are different from adults. They may be more vulnerable to chemicals and organisms they are exposed to in the environment because:
- Children’s nervous, immune, digestive, and other bodily systems are still developing and are more easily harmed.
- Children eat more food, drink more fluids, and breathe more air than adults in proportion to their body size, so it is important to take extra care to ensure the safety of their food, drink, and air.
- The way children behave – such as crawling and placing objects in their mouths – can increase their risk of exposure to chemicals and organisms in the environment.
Adolescents are also still in the formative part of their lives when they are more vulnerable to environmental hazards than are adults.i Their brains, lungs, endocrine systems, and other parts of the body are still developing and are, therefore, more vulnerable to chemical, physical, and biological toxicants that they can encounter in their environment.