children's health

Children live safer, more healthful lives thanks in part to the development of chemical products and technologies that improve public health and safety. Our children's health also benefits from the chemical industry's enduring commitment to health and environmental research. This research is the cornerstone of the American Chemistry Council's commitment to the protection of public health, and children's health and safety.

The chemical industry recognizes that environmental health issues represent a legitimate concern, especially for parents. We also recognize our responsibility to help preserve a healthy environment, not only for our own children, but also for future generations. That is a fundamental responsibility we take seriously. ACC members meet this responsibility through compliance with a network of regulatory safeguards including many federal and state laws and through voluntary programs, such as Responsible Care®, the HPV Challenge and the Voluntary Children’s’ Chemical Evaluation Program Pilot. (VCCEP). At the same time, we believe environmental health issues should be considered in the context of all risks to children. Despite great success to protect children, many risks remain -- accidents, violence, alcohol, drug abuse, tobacco, poverty, nutrition, sexually transmitted diseases, teenage pregnancy, child abuse and potential environmental hazards, to name only a few.

• Chemical manufacturers go to great lengths to assure that their products are safe for their intended uses. For HPV chemicals, manufacturers are committed to generating (and making available to the regulatory agencies and the public at large) detailed information on toxicity tests relevant to both adults and children, including toxicity tests for reproductive and developmental toxicity, which are highly relevant to children’s health.
• The VCCEP pilot has successfully furthered EPA’s and industry’s understanding of how to evaluate chemicals and characterize their risks to children. VCCEP Pilot holds much promise to demonstrate how risk-based decision making can maximize risk information, and at the same time minimize laboratory animal testing, without compromising the scientific certainty needed for decision-making and protecting children’s health.

ACC has continuously and energetically supported the National Children’s Study, which promises to be the largest and most comprehensive study of children’s health and development ever planned in the United States. The Study will follow a representative sample of 100,000 children from across the United States from before birth until age 21 examining the potential impacts of a broad range of environmental influences (physical, chemical, biological and social) in order to identify the root causes of many childhood diseases and conditions including preterm birth, asthma, obesity, heart disease, injury and diabetes. ACC believes that a strong scientific foundation for setting children’s health priorities, which is the objective of the Study, helps to ensure that resources are prioritized and focused on protecting children from the physical, chemical, biological and social environmental factors that pose the greatest risks.