Environmental Exposure Assessment, Pollution Sources, and Exposure Agents
Environmental Exposure Assessment, Pollution Sources, and Exposure Agents
Children´s environmental health is a growing, interdisciplinary field of diverse professionals and community members working together in policy advocacy, research, health, and environmental interventions and treatment services. Understanding exposure assessment is central to improving children´s health across age, gender, indicators of socioeconomic status, and racial/ethnic groups. In general, children are more susceptible and vulnerable to adverse acute and chronic effects due to acute and chronic exposures to environmental toxicants since they eat more food, drink more fluids, and breathe in more air per unit of body weight than adults; their behaviors and rapid developmental changes also contribute to their risks. By enhancing knowledge and awareness of the basic concepts of human exposure assessment and key details of sources of environmental pollution, pediatric nursing professionals can enhance their practices — clinical and patient education skills — and thus improve daily work in their communities through the promotion of exposure reduction or prevention measures.
Children's environmental health (CEH) is a growing, multidisciplinary field of diverse professionals and community members working together in policy advocacy, research and health intervention and treatment services. CEH is related to basic, clinical, environmental and population sciences, including physiology, chemistry, toxicology, epidemiology, and risk assessment. Many environmental, social, cultural and personal factors (e.g., health status, race/ethnicity, gender, time-location-activity patterns and related behaviors, socioeconomic status) influence children's exposure to environmental pollutants in the places they eat, learn, play, sleep, work, etc. (Landrigan et al., 1998; Cohen Hubal et al., 2000; Shendell et al., 2004). Moreover, there can be differential susceptibility and vulnerability among children due to their age and developmental stage, for example, infants versus toddlers versus young schoolchildren versus adolescents (Bearer, 1995, 2000; Golub, 2000). In general, children are more susceptible to adverse acute and chronic effects due to acute and chronic exposures to environmental toxicants since they eat more food, drink more fluids, and breathe in more air per unit of body weight than adults (Landrigan et al., 1998; Etzel & Balk, 1999, 2003; Landrigan, 2004). Therefore, understanding exposure assessment is central to improving children's health and our environment. This article is meant to serve as an overview for pediatric nursing professionals to enhance their knowledge, awareness, and skills to improve their overall practice and daily work.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Children´s environmental health is a growing, interdisciplinary field of diverse professionals and community members working together in policy advocacy, research, health, and environmental interventions and treatment services. Understanding exposure assessment is central to improving children´s health across age, gender, indicators of socioeconomic status, and racial/ethnic groups. In general, children are more susceptible and vulnerable to adverse acute and chronic effects due to acute and chronic exposures to environmental toxicants since they eat more food, drink more fluids, and breathe in more air per unit of body weight than adults; their behaviors and rapid developmental changes also contribute to their risks. By enhancing knowledge and awareness of the basic concepts of human exposure assessment and key details of sources of environmental pollution, pediatric nursing professionals can enhance their practices — clinical and patient education skills — and thus improve daily work in their communities through the promotion of exposure reduction or prevention measures.
Introduction
Children's environmental health (CEH) is a growing, multidisciplinary field of diverse professionals and community members working together in policy advocacy, research and health intervention and treatment services. CEH is related to basic, clinical, environmental and population sciences, including physiology, chemistry, toxicology, epidemiology, and risk assessment. Many environmental, social, cultural and personal factors (e.g., health status, race/ethnicity, gender, time-location-activity patterns and related behaviors, socioeconomic status) influence children's exposure to environmental pollutants in the places they eat, learn, play, sleep, work, etc. (Landrigan et al., 1998; Cohen Hubal et al., 2000; Shendell et al., 2004). Moreover, there can be differential susceptibility and vulnerability among children due to their age and developmental stage, for example, infants versus toddlers versus young schoolchildren versus adolescents (Bearer, 1995, 2000; Golub, 2000). In general, children are more susceptible to adverse acute and chronic effects due to acute and chronic exposures to environmental toxicants since they eat more food, drink more fluids, and breathe in more air per unit of body weight than adults (Landrigan et al., 1998; Etzel & Balk, 1999, 2003; Landrigan, 2004). Therefore, understanding exposure assessment is central to improving children's health and our environment. This article is meant to serve as an overview for pediatric nursing professionals to enhance their knowledge, awareness, and skills to improve their overall practice and daily work.
