This is the first textbook to focus on environmental threats to child health. It will interest professionals and graduate students in public health, pediatrics, environmental health, epidemiology, and toxicology. The first three chapters provide overviews of key children's environmental health issues as well as the role of environmental epidemiology and risk assessment in child health protection. Overarching themes are the susceptibility of the rapidly developing fetus and infant to environmental toxicants, the importance of modifying factors(e.g. poverty, genetic traits, nutrition), the role of health outcome and exposure monitoring, uncertainties surrounding environmental exposure limits, and the importance of timely intervention. Later chapters address the health effects of metals, PCBs, dioxins, pesticides, hormonally active agents, radiation, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and water contaminants. In analyzing potential environmental hazards, the author addresses both biologic and epidemiologic evidence, including the likelihood of causal relationships. Among the health outcomes he discusses are developmental, reproductive, and neurobehavioral effects, respiratory disease, cancer, and waterborne infectious diseases. These discussions cover environmental exposure sources/indicators, interventions, and standards, and conclude with a summary of calls for an improved science base to guide public health decisions and protect child health.

Donald T. Wigle's profile page

Donald T. Wigle is at University of Ottawa.

"It is a very useful book for teaching public health, medical, and nursing students at the graduate and postgraduate level worldwide. It would be useful to any scientist who is interested in an overview of the field. All and all, it is an important contribution to the field and a handy addition to the reference shelf."--Environmental Health Perspectives

"Child Health and the Environment provides a broad view of the topic and is a useful resource for teachers and students who are seeking a comprehensive textbook and for those in the field who want a desk reference. Its usefulness should endure in this rapidly evolving field, given Wigle's efforts to meet the challenge of updating the information in the book through his Web site."--New England Journal of Medicine, October 23, 2003, p. 1682

Doody's, Nov. 2003

"...a valuable book to raise awareness of threats to fetal, infant, and child health from anthropogenic factors in the environment."--Canadian Journal of Public Health

"Any book that includes the London smog episode of 1952, the disasters of thalidomide, Minamata disease, Yu-Cheng disease, DES exposed-mothers, and Chernobyl is starting with inherently fascinating material. However, in this case, substantial value is added in the telling. This is a book on the unique and not-so-unique environmental risks faced by children - a useful primer, compendium, reference, and guide to the future...overall, this work nicely fills a gaping hole in the field."--Epidemiology

"The content of this book is closely aligned with traditional environmental health, one that is limited to air, food, and water contaminants; radiation; toxic chemicals; wastes and their effects on human health. Such a compendium of knowledge will be useful for students at the undergraduate and graduate level in public health, epidemiology, medicine, health policy makers in public health, and the general public interested in this subject area. The publication of this textbook is long overdue. It presents an important synthesis of the state of knowledge linking chemical exposures and child health conditions." --Children, Youth and Environment

"Any book that includes the London smog episode of 1952, the disasters of thalidomide, Minamata disease, Yu-Cheng disease, DES exposed-mothers, and Chernobyl is starting with inherently fascinating material. However, in this case, substantial value is added in the telling. This is a book on the unique and not-so-unique environmental risks faced by children - a useful primer, compendium, reference, and guide to the future...overall this work nicely fills a gaping hole in the field."--Matthew P. Longnecker, Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina