The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released on April 27 (76 FR 23600) an updated toxicological profile for uranium. The draft is open for public comment through July 29, 2011. The profile was last updated in 1999.
On its website ASTDR notes that four new sections have been added to the profile to address child health issues. The sections are:
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Section 1.6 - How Can (Chemical X) Affect Children?
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Section 1.7 - How Can Families Reduce the Risk of Exposure?
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Section 3.7 - Children’s Susceptibility
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Section 6.6 - Exposures of Children
The profile notes that health effects seen in children from exposure to toxic levels of uranium are expected to be similar to the effects seen in adults. The potential for uranium exposure is higher for adults and children who consume foods grown in areas with elevated concentrations of uranium in the soil and in their drinking water. The draft states, “no information is available on whether children differ from adults in their weight-adjusted intake of uranium.”