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Health Impacts of Developmental Exposure to Environmental Chemicals pp 545–557Cite as

Further Direction of Research and Policy Making of Environment and Children’s Health

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Abstract

The Minamata Convention was established following the Minamata disaster. To protect humans and the environment from persistent organic pollutants, the Stockholm Convention was established. However, there are many remaining chemicals with potential hazardous properties so that we must speed up and shorten the time to take action for such chemicals. Emerging environmental hazards including toxic chemicals are a threat to child health. A considerable number of birth cohorts have been recently established, and evidence reveals that there are certain adverse associations between environmental chemical exposures in utero and adolescent and children’s health. However, there are remaining agenda in preventing exposure of children to hazardous chemicals. We have pointed out challenges in future studies on (1) other risk factors that are not comprehensively addressed in this book, (2) mixture exposure, (3) genetics, (4) biomolecular approaches, (5) birth cohorts and consortiums, and (6) inclusion of environment into the original Developmental Origins of Health and Disease concept, as well as (7) long-term follow-up. The United Nations set the sustainable development goals. We should act together to create cleaner and safer environments for children by preventing exposure to chemical hazards, which will contribute to a healthier, more secure, and sustainable future for the world.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare; and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) under Grant Number JP18gk0110032.

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  1. Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, WHO Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health and Prevention of Chemical Hazards, Sapporo, Japan

    Reiko Kishi & Atsuko Araki

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  1. Reiko Kishi
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  2. Atsuko Araki
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Correspondence to Atsuko Araki .

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  1. Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Reiko Kishi

  2. Department of Environmental Health Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Philippe Grandjean

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Kishi, R., Araki, A. (2020). Further Direction of Research and Policy Making of Environment and Children’s Health. In: Kishi, R., Grandjean, P. (eds) Health Impacts of Developmental Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Current Topics in Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0520-1_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0520-1_22

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