What if you suddenly got a public service announcement that someone had poisoned the city’s water supply with botulinum? What would you do? Who would you believe? Would you be angry at the city because they didn’t protect the water? What if it wasn’t botulinum but another chemical whose side effects aren’t really known?
The principal causes of illness and death in children today are called noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). They do not pass from person to person but are ingested orally or inhaled or absorbed through the skin. They are not germs.
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine in January 2025 from the Consortium for Children’s Environmental Health (editor Debra Malina, PhD) presents some of the new research linking children’s illnesses to manufactured synthetic chemicals. Think autism or missing/shortened arms and legs (thalidomide) or lowered IQ because of lead.
An estimated 350,000 manufactured chemicals and plastics are currently listed in global inventories. Most are produced from fossil fuels, gas, oil and coal. Production has expanded 50-fold since 1950 and is increasing 3% annually and expected to triple by 2050. There are few legal or policy constraints to the manufacturing of these chemicals before being brought to market. Fewer than 20% have been tested for toxicity and fewer still for the toxic effects in infants and children.
Over the past 50 years NCDs rates in children have risen sharply. The incidence of childhood cancers has increased by 35%. Male reproductive birth defects have doubled in frequency. Neurodevelopmental disorders now affect 1 in 6 children and autism spectrum disorder is diagnosed in 1 in 36. Pediatric asthma has tripled in prevalence. The list goes on.
We have learned that toxic chemicals can cross the placenta and children are far more vulnerable to toxic chemicals than adults. This is the reason for the creation of the field of environmental pediatrics. They have learned that repeated, brief exposures at early vulnerable periods are linked to increase risk of disease and disability that can persist over their life time. Some effects are obvious but others may need a detailed evaluation.
The other discovery is that early-life exposure can manifest at any time in the life span. Delayed birth defects may include altered sexual development, reduced fertility, lifelong risks of asthma, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurologic impairment and cancer.
Studies to find out which of the 350,000 plus chemicals can cause harm is difficult. Outside of the human cost is massive economic loss including health care expenditures, lifelong productivity losses from reduced cognitive and/or physical ability and premature death. The chemical industry (fossil fuels) largely shifts the cost of safety studies to the government and the taxpayers.
Pollution by synthetic chemicals and plastics is a major planetary challenge that is worsening rapidly. Uncheck production of fossil-carbon-based chemicals endangers our children and humanity’s capacity for reproduction.
Dr. Malina states that inaction on chemicals is no longer an option and is essential to preserve our “common home” and safeguard our children’s future.
by Sally Robinson, MD Clinical Professor
Keeping Kids Healthy
Published January 2025