ALBANY — A recent spike in chronic illness and developmental disabilities among children is linked to environmental toxins and warrants increased oversight by the state government, according to a report released Wednesday.

“Young children are uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards because their body organs and systems are still developing,” said George Dunkel of the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Recognizing the potentially negative impacts of pollutants on children, it is imperative that we as a society commit to protect our children from environmental hazards in our homes, schools, and communities.”

The threats range from asbestos and air pollution to lead jewelry, pesticides and arsenic in drinking water. The report, written by the Learning Disabilities Association of New York and the Healthy Schools Network, said children are especially sensitive to these and other toxins, which can cause a wide array of life-long disabilities.

“Children eat proportionately more food, drink more fluids and breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults,” Dunkel said. “Their intake of pollutants is therefore potentially more toxic.”

The groups are calling for more collaboration between state agencies on environmental health issues and increased educational and clinical services. They also want a better system for reporting children’s exposures to environmental hazards.

The report says children’s environmental health protection is “fragmented and uncoordinated” and that enforcement of health laws is “uneven at best.” Further, the groups said, lawmakers often won’t act on issues until there is conclusive evidence of links between environmental factors and illness. The emphasis is not on preventing problems in the first place, they said.

Diseases and disabilities in children linked to toxic pollutants include asthma, childhood cancer, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and a range of developmental disabilities like mental retardation and autism. The number of autism cases in New York has increased five-fold over the last 15 years according to Fighting Autism, a Pennsylvania-based research group.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s office did not return calls seeking comment on the recommendations.

Last year, the state Legislature passed a law that created an advisory council on children’s environmental health aimed at turning the issue into “a high priority in all aspects of environmental protection, public health and education,” the legislation said. It took effect in late January and the state health commissioner is now charged with appointing the body.

The Department of Health did not return calls seeking information about the council. However, two years ago the agency paired with the state Department of Environmental Conservation in establishing a program to review environmental hazards and identify trends and clusters of certain health problems facing children, according to its Web site.

Asthma is one of the leading diseases plaguing children today and the top cause of school absenteeism, the new report said. According to 2005 figures from the American Lung Association, there are about 350,000 cases of pediatric asthma in the state. Triggers for the condition include diesel emissions, pesticides and other harmful chemicals in the air. A recent study by the federal Environmental Protection Agency ranked New York’s air as the dirtiest in the country.

The groups also reported that environmental hazards affect minorities disproportionately. According to Cecil Corbin Mark of WEACT for Environmental Justice, 80 percent of children affected by lead poisoning in the state are minorities. He said urban communities composed largely of minority groups are “poisoned by preventable environmental toxins.”

Contact Dan Wiessner at daniel_wiessner@...

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