Children’s Health: Environmental Hazards Expose Inequities

Children are particularly vulnerable to environmental health hazards such as lead, radon, and pesticides. Exposure to even small doses can damage their physical and mental health, causing asthma, stress, cancer, and developmental delays.

A new report by the American Public Health Association (APHA) examines children’s environmental health, pointing out that although all children are susceptible to environmental hazards, “some children of color and children who live in underserved communities are disproportionately impacted.”

Children of color are more likely to live in underserved, segregated residential communities where industrial and hazardous waste sites are more prevalent. Black children have higher elevated blood lead levels, at 11.2%., compared to 2.3% for White children.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says Black children are twice as likely to be hospitalized for asthma and four times as likely to die from it as White children.

Minority children are six to nine times more likely than White children to live in high-poverty communities with crowded and substandard housing infrastructure, lack of safe drinking water, ineffective waste disposal, pest infestation, and inadequate food storage. Lead paint, water pollutants, mold, mites, and dust in their homes lead to numerous adverse health outcomes.

Children spend up to seven hours a day in the classroom and underfunded high-poverty school districts are often in poor condition. One study showed that in schools with the highest air pollution levels, children’s productivity suffered. These schools recorded the lowest attendance rates and test scores. Another study showed a link between outdoor air quality and green space and absenteeism. No federal law exists to prevent schools from being located near major roadways or oil and gas facilities.  

Unsafe neighborhoods, a lack of safe parks, and poorly maintained sidewalks in underserved communities means children growing up there are less likely to regularly interact with nature and a healthy outdoor environment, with mental and physical health implications.

Climate change is intensifying the impacts of environmental health pollutants.  Extreme heat events increase air pollution levels and particulate matter, causing respiratory health issues and developmental delays in children.

To address the dire inequities, APHA recommends a multi-pronged policy effort, from the federal to the local level, to set standards to protect children’s health and their environment.