Vaillancourt, Cathy . Contaminant Exposure and Mental Health in Children In: Conférence annuelle du Collectif pour la santé environnementale des enfants “Healthy environment, healthy minds”,, 23 janvier 2020, New Maryland, Nouveau-Brunswick.
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Dr. Cathy Vaillancourt of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique presented on the links between contaminant exposure and mental health in children. She gave an overview of several research studies on the subject. One of these was a study in France that observed that children who attended schools in more polluted areas experienced more learning and memory problems than their counterparts in less polluted areas. Dr. Vaillancourt also made the point that particulate matter and other chemicals can traverse the placenta and have an effect on the fetus and shared that the first 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s 2nd birthday offer a unique window of opportunity to build healthier and more prosperous futures. It has been shown that widely used chemicals such as lead and mercury can contribute to learning, behavioural or intellectual impairment, as well as specific neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD or autism spectrum disorder. However, Dr. Vaillancourt emphasized that such consequences are preventable and gave the anti-smoking campaigns as an example of a successful environmental health campaign. She also gave some tips on how to avoid exposures to toxic chemicals such as eating fresh, organic, and unpackaged foods, minimizing use of pesticides around the home, avoiding cosmetics, fingernail polish, and lotions, supporting bans on smoking public places and cosmetic pesticides and supporting efforts to update chemical management policies and reduce industrial pollutants. She finished by stating that education is usually the starting point of any effort to prevent exposure to toxins, highlighting that attending events such as this conference is a good start.
| Type de document: | Document issu d'une conférence ou d'un atelier |
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| Mots-clés libres: | - |
| Centre: | Centre INRS-Institut Armand Frappier |
| Date de dépôt: | 14 juill. 2021 15:46 |
| Dernière modification: | 14 juill. 2021 15:46 |
| URI: | https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/11833 |
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