Experts call on Asian governments to remove lead from gasoline. (EH Update).At the First International Conference on Environmental Risks to Children's Health Children's Health Definition Children's health encompasses the physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being of children from infancy through adolescence. , held March 3-7 in Bangkok, Thailand, more than 300 environmental and health experts called for Asian governments to move quickly to remove lead from gasoline. Studies in Europe and the United States have shown conclusively that the removal of lead from gasoline reduced the levels of lead in children's blood by 90 percent. This in turn led to a 30 to 40 percent reduction in learning disabilities caused by lead," said Dr. Richard Helmer, Director for Environmental Protection at the World Health Organization (WHO). Initial evidence of similar effects in Asia was presented to the Bangkok conference: Researchers associated with Thailand's Mahidol University detected reductions in the level of lead in children's blood in Bangkok after the introduction of unleaded gasoline in that country. Over half the world's population lives in Asia, and 40 percent of the population is under 18 years of age. The conference concluded that the damage leaded gasoline would do to children's health and to the future intellectual and economic capacity of the region could be catastrophic. Asia's industrialization industrialization Process of converting to a socioeconomic order in which industry is dominant. The changes that took place in Britain during the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and 19th century led the way for the early industrializing nations of western Europe and has multiplied the environmental hazards children face. Untreated waste from manufacturing facilities is dumped into landfills and waterways and is an immediate health hazard health hazard Occupational safety Any agent or activity posing a potential hazard to health. Cf Physical hazard. to slum children scavenging scavenging of anesthetic. See anesthetic scavenging. dump sites or children bathing in rivers and canals. Also, the lavish use of pesticides and insecticides in agriculture has increased the risk that toxic chemicals such as DDT DDT or 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1,-trichloroethane, chlorinated hydrocarbon compound used as an insecticide. First introduced during the 1940s, it killed insects that spread disease and feed on crops. will find their way into the food chain. These new threats come in addition to longer-standing risks, such as the indoor air pollution that results either from secondhand tobacco smoke or the open burning of cooking fuels in the home. Naturally high levels of fluoride in drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. cause dental or even crippling skeletal fluorosis, with millions of children particularly affected in China. Similarly, arsenic-burdened groundwaters, for example in Bangladesh and West Bengal (India), make rural wells a hidden source of skin diseases in children. Thousands of children exposed to arsenic in their drinking water develop cancer as they become adults. Participants in the conference further recommended that governments should both ensure that environmental tobacco smoke environmental tobacco smoke (ETS/passive smoke), n the gaseous by-product of burning tobacco products, including but not limited to commercially manufactured cigarettes and cigars; contains toxic elements harmful to the health of adults and children no longer pollutes public areas and encourage parents to stop inconsiderate in·con·sid·er·ate adj. 1. Thoughtless of others; displaying a lack of consideration. 2. Not well considered or carefully thought out; ill-advised. tobacco smoking in their homes. |
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