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INTRODUCTION
A child's world centers on the home, school and the local community. These should be healthy places where children can thrive, protected from disease. But particularly in the developing world, these places are often unhealthy and cause many deaths and a huge burden of disease among children. More than 5 million children under age 14 die every year from diseases linked to the environments in which they live, learn and play. Degraded environments are the breeding ground for germs, worms and disease-carrying insects. Many environmental threats to children's health are aggravated by poverty, conflicts, natural and man-made disasters, and social inequity. The children most affected live in the developing world, but many children in developed countries are also at risk. Children who are chronically sick or disabled cannot regularly attend school, and their social and intellectual development suffers. In turn, this huge burden of ill health among children constrains social and economic development. Children with chronic disease and long-term disability cannot grow up to be healthy and fully productive. But the suffering of children because of environmental hazards is not inevitable. There are solutions; most environment-related disease and deaths can be prevented. Many tools and strategies can protect children from the dangers lurking in their environments.

ECONOMIC BURDEN
The economic burden of environment-related disease is enormous. Exposure to toxic substances may cost developed countries more than US$ 300 billion per year.When environmental risks are reduced, the financial gains are considerable. Research suggests that Mexico City, for example, would benefit by as much as US$ 2 billion a year if particulate matter in the air were reduced by just 10 percent. In the USA, children are already benefiting from past policies on lead-free gasoline that have reduced their exposure to lead. For each year's cohort of children, the economic benefits are estimated to be between US$ 110 billion and US$ 319 billion.

WHAT ARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS TO CHILDREN?
For many children, their personal world is often limited to home, school, the street outside, play areas, and the homes of their extended family. But these very places can also put children at risk from environmental dangers—and these risks are increasing. Basic risks include unsafe drinking water, indoor air pollution, poor food hygiene, unsafe housing and inadequate waste disposal. ‘Modern‘ risks include the unsafe use of dangerous chemicals, inadequate disposal of toxic waste, noise and industrial pollution. Unsafe chemicals in household products continue to harm children. ‘Emerging’ long-term environmental threats to health include global climate change, ozone depletion, contamination by persistent organic pollutants and chemicals and other hazards, and emerging diseases.

Children are particularly vulnerable to environmental hazards because they are constantly growing and consume more than adults in proportion to their weight. Their systems are still developing and they spend their time closer to the ground, where most dust and chemicals accumulate. Their natural curiosity and lack of knowledge are aggravating factors. Children can also be exposed to harmful environmental hazards before birth, for instance, through maternal addiction to tobacco, alcohol and other substances. Exposure to environmental risks at early stages of development can lead to irreversible damage.

A HEALTHY PLACE FOR EVERY CHILD
Children are often exposed to several risk factors simultaneously. They may live in unsafe and crowded settlements, in underserved rural areas or in slums on the edges of cities that lack access to basic services such as water and sanitation, electricity, or health care. They may be exposed to industrial and vehicle pollution as well as to indoor air pollution and unsafe chemicals. Children are also likely to suffer from unintentional injuries (accidents) and poisonings associated with unsafe housing and consumer products. They are more likely to be undernourished, making them more vulnerable to environmental threats.

Many children are born at home and spend a major part of their young lives there. But from conception, their health may be adversely affected by hazards in the home such as lack of sufficient water, indoor air pollution, inadequate hygiene, contaminated food and water, and many others. Schools share many of the same health risks as the home—as well as others specific to their environment. Millions of children live on the street and are vulnerable to hazards including violence and unintentional injury as well as environmental risks such as infection from scavenging in waste dumps. Many children work from a young age, exposing themselves to environmental risks in the workplace. But they are even more susceptible to harmful effects than adults and usually less aware of the risks and less able to do something about them.

A DAY WITH ESMERALDA MONTOYA
"My name is Esmeralda Montoya, and I am an elementary school teacher in Latin America. I work in a school that does not have functioning toilet facilities; they have not been working for the last year, and each month we ask that someone be sent to fix them. No one ever comes because the government has no money to send anyone or to buy supplies. The children have to go in the street or the nearby bushes if they need to use the bathroom. Many of the girls have spoken to me about this. They are scared because there is a lot of violent crime in this area."

"It is more than the toilets that are falling apart in this school. The roof has been leaking for years now, and we have no heating, and sometimes even no electricity when the winter rains come. The children get colds and coughs because it is so damp inside in winter. We have mold on the walls and floors, and because we don't have enough desks, the children sit on the floor in the damp! I think many parents want to stop sending their children to this school, but they have no choice: they know that education is the only way for their children to get out of the poverty that surrounds us. But sometimes, as I teach, I wonder...how much good does this school actually do? Can the children even concentrate in these conditions?"

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