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Children’s Health is Declining, Says American Chemical Society

by Bette Hileman*

Over the past few decades, various disturbing trends have led researchers to believe that environmental exposures are contributing to children’s declining health status in the U.S. Federal and private health programs are just beginning to realize the extent of the problem and to seek solutions.

Scientists are concerned that environmental exposures cause a wide range of health threats to kids, including birth defects, cancer, and asthma. According to a recent study from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), childhood cancer incidence has risen 1% a year since the early 1970s, the prevalence of asthma has gone up sharply, the incidence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be increasing, a growing percentage of boys are born with defects in their reproductive tracts, and the prevalence of autism is rising dramatically…
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