Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: Preface Introduction 1. Changing diseases in a changing environment -- Patterns of childhood disease - then and now -- Environmental changes -- 2. New chemicals and new childhood chemical exposures -- Explosive growth of chemicals -- Early warning signs -- Gaps in safety and toxicity testing -- Childhood exposure to new chemicals -- 3. Children's unique vulnerability to toxic chemicals in the environment -- Unique windows of vulnerability exist in children -- Children process toxic exposures more slowly than adults -- Children's higher metabolism rates make different demands on their bodies than adults -- Childhood exposures can incubate for many years and may cause adult disease -- Exposures are proportionately greater in children than in adults -- Normal hand-to-mouth behavior increases their exposure to toxins -- Children live closer to the ground and have different exposures than adults -- Other risk factors compound the problem -- 4. The links between childhood disease and toxic chemicals in the environment -- The increase in autism, ADHD, and other problems of the developing brain -- The increase in male birth defects, early puberty in girls, and testicular cancer in young mem -- The increased incidence of asthma and allergies -- New links between household toxins, obesity, and diabetes -- The links between childhood exposures and adult disease -- The growing problems with reproduction -- The increases in childhood cancer -- 5. A Guide for Parents: Keeping Your Child Safe from Environmental Toxins -- An environmental checklist for your home -- Over 100 ways to protect your children and promote health as they grow -- At home -- 10 ways to make baby's room safer -- 8 ways to avoid asthma and allergy attacks -- 10 practical ways to prevent lead poisoning -- 25 ways to minimize your child's exposure to endocrine disruptors -- 9 cautions about pesticides -- 11 ways to reduce exposure to unsafe foods -- 14 tips for avoiding exposure to household chemicals -- 6 ways to grow your child into a healthy adult -- At day care -- 10 ways to make day care safer -- At school -- 10 ways to make school safer -- In the neighborhood -- 10 ways to make the neighborhood safer -- Tips for future moms and dads -- 10 ways to protect future children -- 6. A Call to Action -- Children's health, toxic chemicals and you -- Policy and legislation: where we stand now -- Evidence-based prevention -- US standards vs standards in other countries -- Consequences of our current situation -- A call for a new public health revolution -- New ways to protect children from environmental toxins -- Our call to action - community based actions, state initiatives, federal legislation -- Career opportunities for the future of public health.

"An accessible, authoritative guide to understanding the "silent spring" of threats in our collective backyard. More than 80,000 new chemicals have been developed and released into the global environment during the last four decades. Today the World Health Organization attributes more than one-third of all childhood deaths to environmental causes, and as rates of childhood disease skyrocket -- autism, asthma, ADHD, obesity, diabetes, and even birth defects -- it raises serious, difficult questions around how the chemical environment is impacting children's health. Children and Environmental Toxins: What Everyone Needs to Know® offers an accessible guide to understanding and identifying the potential sources of harm in a child's environment. Written by experts in pediatrics and environmental health and formatted in an easy to follow question-and-answer format, it offers parents, care providers, and activists a reliable introduction to a hotly debated topic. As the burdens of environmental toxins and disease continue to defy borders, this book provides a new benchmark to understanding the potential threats in our environment and food. No parent or care provider should be without it"--

"Over the past four decades, the prevalence of autism, asthma, ADHD, obesity, diabetes, and birth defects has increased substantially among children throughout the world. Not coincidentally, more than 80,000 new chemicals have been developed and released into the global environment during this same period. Today the World Health Organization attributes more than one third of all childhood deaths to environmental causes. Children and Environmental Toxins: What Everyone Needs to Know offers an authoritative yet accessible question-and-answer guide to the "silent spring" of environmental threats to children's health. As the burdens of environmental toxins and chronic disease continue to defy borders, this book will be an invaluable addition to the conspicuously sparse literature in this area"--