New environmental report on child health
The need for more research on how children and young people are affected by endocrine-disrupting chemicals is an area highlighted by the Environmental Health Report 2013.
"There are several good examples of how the level of certain environmental toxins in breast milk decreases when researchers have drawn attention to health risks. At the same time, unfortunately, we are seeing increases in the levels of new chemicals that have not been investigated quite so thoroughly. There are also no standardised test methods for the early detection of how chemicals affect child development, says Mattias Öberg, lead researcher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, which produced the report in collaboration with the National Board of Health and Welfare.
The report is based on a questionnaire with responses from 36 000 parents and children and also describes trends for other areas, such as air pollution, indoor environment and noise pollution.