Environmental health of children.
Pediatric primary health care providers are responsible for providing comprehensive care to children. This includes assessing for and identifying the effect of environmental hazards on children's health and managing conditions that may result from exposure to environmental toxins. This article begins by reviewing the unique developmental, biologic, and behavioral characteristics of children and age-specific issues that make them particularly vulnerable to toxins. It then provides the reader with general assessment and management strategies related to environmental toxins, including an assessment tool that can be used in a pediatric primary care office. The qualities of selected toxins that have been implicated in childhood illnesses are discussed. Routes of exposure, signs and symptoms of toxicity, and assessment and management approaches are presented specifically for lead, mercury, environmental tobacco smoke, particulate matter, asbestos, radon, molds, and pesticides. Because prevention is the best intervention in environmental health, the article emphasizes ways pediatric providers can work with caregivers to prevent or minimize exposure.
University of Portland School of Nursing, Portland, Ore., USA. dunn@up.edu
Ardys M
AM
Dunn
Cathie
C
Burns
Barbara
B
Sattler
D001194:Asbestos; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004782:Environmental Health; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead; D008403:Mass Screening; D008628:Mercury; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D010575:Pesticides; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D011886:Radon; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010575:Pesticides; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D001194:Asbestos; D007854:Lead; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D008628:Mercury; D011886:Radon