Principles Evaluating Risks: Environmental Health Criteria Series No. 237

Scientific knowledge in recent years has demonstrated that children are a vulnerable population subgroup with special susceptibilities and unique exposures to environmental factors that have important implications for public health practices and risk assessment approaches. The heightened susceptibility of children derives primarily from the unique biological and physiological features that characterize the various stages of development from conception through adolescence, as well as, from certain behavioural characteristics and external factors that may result in increased exposure levels.