GAO Report Scolds EPA on Toxic Threats to Kids

"During the past decade, the Environmental Protection Agency's commitment to keeping children safe from toxic chemicals has lapsed, and top officials routinely ignored scores of recommendations by the agency's own children's health advisory committee, according to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office.

The consequences are substantial, health experts told lawmakers Wednesday, during a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Children breathe more air in proportion to their weight than do adults, and because their bodies are still developing toxic chemicals affect them more profoundly. Exposures to chemicals today portend a "flood of chronic disease" tomorrow, said Ted Schettler, science director for the advocacy group Science and Environmental Health Network."

Blake Morrison reports for USA TODAY March 18, 2010.