Recognising risks, protecting children
Children require special protection and are considered to be very sensitive to substances that may be harmful to their health. This must be taken into account when assessing health risks and setting guidelines. Substances can affect children differently than adults.
Small, big, different: paediatric toxicology
When assessing risks to children, the following factors must be considered, which, compared to adults, can lead to a higher health risk:
Differences in the absorption of substances (external exposureExposureTo glossary)
Children may absorb more of a substance into their bodies than adults. This is because the younger children are, the higher their energy requirements are in relation to their body weight.
It should be noted that children have different food preferences and needs than adults, depending on their age.
During infancy, they consume a range of foods that must meet particularly high safety standards. It is only around the age of one that children no longer require specially prepared food, but can eat the same food as their parents.
Exposure does not occur exclusively through food intake, but also through breathing and the skin: due to their higher energy requirements, young children consume about two to three times more oxygen per kilogram of body weight than adults. Accordingly, young children breathe more heavily and thus absorb more critical substances from the air.
When it comes to the absorption of substances through the skin, it should also be borne in mind that the younger the children are, the greater the surface area of skin in relation to body weight.
Differences in the processes to which a substance is subjected in the body (kinetics, which may lead to higher internal exposure in the tissue)
The kinetics of substances involves their absorption, distribution in the body, biochemical conversion and breakdown (metabolisation) and excretion. Children in their first year of life are less able to break down some substances, which can increase the concentration in the affected organ. Older children break down many substances more quickly than adults.
Differences in the effect of substances on the body (dynamics)
The effects of substances on the body or a particular organ may be stronger or different in children. It can often be assumed that tissue that is developing is more sensitive to toxic substances. In addition to these quantitative differences, it should be borne in mind that there are periods in the development of some bodily functions during which disturbances can have a particularly strong and possibly irreversible effect. This applies in particular to the development of the unborn child during pregnancy.
Behavioural differences
Children often behave differently to adults. This applies particularly to young children, who, for example, often put things in their mouths. In doing so, they can ingest an increased number of critical substances from the ground, poison themselves with cleaning agents or tablets, or swallow coins and batteries. In the course of their development, children first learn to assess risks and act with foresight.
Dose and duration of absorption
The presence of a substance in a food or product does not necessarily mean that there is a health risk. The critical factors are the amount of a substance that is ingested and the duration of exposure. It must also be taken into account that there may be more than one source of the ingested substance.
Risk assessment: special consideration of children
When assessing the risk of individual substances, there are two aspects that must be considered: firstly, children may experience more severe health effects than adults. Secondly, effects may occur that are specific to children.
In general, each individual substance should be tested to determine the extent to which the factors of exposure, kinetics, dynamics and behaviour can lead to stronger effects in children. However, data is often lacking; this applies not only to children, but also to other potentially sensitive groups in the population in individual cases.
In risk assessment, differences in the population are often taken into account by applying high safety factors. These factors are suitable to sufficiently guarantee the safety of children in the vast majority of cases. However, this does not apply to effects that specifically occur in children, as these are not taken into account in the general risk assessment of the population as a whole. For these effects, a separate assessment must be carried out.
More information:
- Research on risk identification, early risk detection and risk minimisation
- FAQ Risk Assessment of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
Monitoring risks for children
The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment aims to impart knowledge to reduce risks for children in their everyday environment.
These pages provide information material and tips for protection against foodborne infections:
Tips and advice for the safe use of everyday items:
The poisoning app
The poisoning app contains information about poisonous plants, including plant portraits (plant images) and plants that look similar. It also provides information about chemical products, toys and medicines. It explains hazard symbols and provides information for specific cases of poisoning.
You can call the relevant poison control centre directly from the app.
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