NEW YORK, New York, May 10, 2002 (ENS) - About 5,500 children die each day around the world from diseases caused by polluted air, water and food, concludes a new study released Thursday by three United Nations agencies. The report details the deadly threat that environmental degradation poses to the Earth's most vulnerable citizens.

Hundreds of children paraded through the streets of Manhattan on Wednesday in a march for child rights - which include the right to a clean environment. (Photo by Donna DeCesare © UNICEF)

The study notes that thousands of children continue to die every day from pollution related diseases, despite improvements made over the past 10 years in both children's well being and the environment.

"We have made great strides over the last decade," said Carol Bellamy, executive director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). "Children are healthier today. There is more access to clean water."

Carol Bellamy, executive director of UNICEF. (Photo courtesy UNICEF)

The 140 page report was produced by UNICEF, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It was released in conjunction with the three day United Nations (UN) General Assembly special session on children, which opened in New York on Wednesday.

The conference, attended by more than 60 heads of state or government and 170 national delegations, aims to place children at the top of the world's agenda and foster more investment in essential social services for them. One of its main goals is to increase household access to hygienic sanitation facilities and affordable and safe drinking water.

The UN report identifies a number of environmental problems that directly affect children, such as high levels of toxic chemicals and the degradation and depletion of natural resources. For example, lead contamination in the environment - much of it from leaded gasoline - causes permanent neurological and developmental disorders in children.

A girl delegate at the Children's Forum. (Photo by Susan Markisz © UNICEF)

According to WHO, almost one third of the global disease burden can be attributed to environmental risk factors. More than 40 percent of this burden falls on children under five years of age, even though they account for just 10 percent of the world's population.

A major contributing factor to these diseases is malnutrition, which affects around 150 million children and undermines their immune systems.

Malnutrition and diarrhea form a vicious cycle. The organisms that cause diarrhea harm the walls of children's digestive tracts, which prevents them absorbing their food, causing even greater malnutrition - and vulnerability to disease.

Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, director general of WHO. (Photo courtesy WHO)

The report warns that the public has little awareness of children's special vulnerability to environmental health risks. Klaus Töpfer, UNEP's executive director, called for international action to raise awareness of the problem.

"I am convinced that we need to elevate children's environmental health issues on the international agenda, both through the General Assembly's special session on children and then the World Summit on Sustainable Development," said Töpfer. "We should recognize that realizing children's rights and managing environmental challenges are mutually reinforcing goals."

The report calls for increased national investment in early child care, including focusing on the immediate environments of children, like homes, schools, and communities. One notable success in many countries is the transition to unleaded fuel, which helps eliminate lead from the environment.

Gabriela Azurduy Arrieta of Bolivia presents the recommendations of the Children's Forum to delegates at the UN General Assembly's Special Session on Children on Wednesday. (Photo by Susan Markisz © UNICEF)

In the United States, a new bill was introduced Thursday that would increase federal research on hormone disrupting chemicals, among the most persistent and insidious environmental pollutants. Hormone disruptors are synthetic chemicals that block, mimic or otherwise interfere with naturally produced hormones that control how an organism develops and functions.

Since the 1970s, the incidence of childhood cancers, learning disabilities, autism, diabetes, early puberty, and abnormal penile development has skyrocketed. Evidence linking these disorders with exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals has continued to mount.

"What is especially troubling is that children are exposed to these chemicals in the womb and shortly after birth - periods of rapid development," said Dr. Theo Colborn, director of the World Wildlife Fund's wildlife and contaminants program.

Representative Louise Slaughter introduced a bill Thursday to fund studies of hormone disrupting chemicals. (Photo courtesy Office of the Representative)

NIEHS would also be required to provide public reports on the extent to which hormone disrupting chemicals pose a threat to human health and the environment.

"This legislation is long overdue. Not one chemical in use today has been adequately tested for its ability to undermine the construction of children's bodies and brains," said Dr. Colborn. "There is an urgent need to support innovative research designed to identify hazards that traditional toxicology has missed." those limits.”