Unit 5. Evaluation of Pesticides Risks for Children.

An evaluation of the pesticide risks for children is presented. In terms of exposure to pesticides, infants and young children constitute a particular population of concern, because of their great susceptibility to such exposure, due to behavioral, anatomical and metabolic reasons.The toxicological modes of action include effects on nervous system maturation, endocrine disruption, and the influence of early life exposures on development of disease later in life. The routes of penetration of pesticides in children bodies induce much stronger adverse effects, because the exposure is proportional to the child body and is calculated on a body-weight basis. The dependence of several key exposure variables on the age of children, such as body weight, water intake, breathing rate, skin surface area, total vegetable intake and total dairy intake is presented in a table. Presented are also the physiologically-based susceptibilities, such as the organ size changes, gastrointestinal system acidity, body water/body fat, the skin permeability and the development of the blood brain barrier.