Chemicals in the environmental and developmental toxicity to children: A public health and policy perspective

There are numerous pesticides and toxic chemicals in the environment that h ave yet to be evaluated for potential to cause developmental neurotoxicity. Recent legislation and testing initiatives provide an impetus to generatin g more information about potential hazards to children. In the United State s, the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) required the U.S. Environmen tal Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to make a finding that a pesticide food us e is safe for children. In addition, the law requires U.S. EPA to incorpora te an additional 10-fold factor in risk assessments for pesticide residue t olerances to take into account the special sensitivities of infants and chi ldren as well as incomplete data with respect to toxicity and exposures. Th e potential of chemicals in food and drinking water to cause endocrine disr uption will also be examined via the Endocrine Disrupter Screening and Test ing Program required by the FQPA and the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act. in a ddition, a new Voluntary chemical information program will provide screenin g-level information for the some 2,800 high-volume chemicals in commerce in the United States. These initiatives will need to be accompanied by resear ch focused on developmental toxicity for children, including developmental disabilities. Developmental disabilities exact a large toll on children's h ealth in the United States. Three major developmental disabilities-autism c erebral palsy, and severe mental retardation-each affect substantial number s of children. We know very little about the etiology of these conditions. A number of priority areas for research are suggested, including a large en vironmental prospective study of developmental neurotoxicity.