Unique characteristics of children that affect exposure

4 Unique characteristics of children that affect exposure 

Children s exposure to and dose from environmental contaminants are expected to be different from and, in many cases, much higher than those of adults. Both physiological and behavioural characteristics influence children s exposure to environmental contaminants. 

Children s behaviour and the way in which they interact with their environment may have a profound effect on the magnitude of exposures to contaminants and differences in exposure at different ages. In other words, a child s exposure is greatly affected by where the child is, what the child is doing, and what the child ingests. Children crawl, roll, and climb over contaminated surfaces, resulting 

Although developmental age is a critical element in determining children s activity patterns, other factors, such as geography, climate, culture, socioeconomic status, sex, season of the year, and areas (i.e. urban versus rural), can also have an important impact on activities and exposure. Thus, there is a need for caution when data about activity patterns generated in one region are used to estimate exposures in another region. 

As an example, a comparison of activities, lifestyles, habitats, and diets in tropical areas and regions in the Arctic illustrates the differences that might exist in geographical regions. Likewise, different cultures have different diets and lifestyles that would be expected to impact exposures. Some folk medicines that contain chemical contaminants are commonly used. A good example is the use of azarcon, a lead-based product, for the treatment of gastrointestinal symptoms in Mexico (Yanez et al., 1994). Traditional cosmetics 

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