Endangering Generations

The document outlines the technical approaches used to estimate children's exposure to chlorpyrifos and PFAS, the process for tracking children's product recalls, and the use of EPA Regulatory Impact Analyses to quantify the health benefits lost when air pollution standards were weakened or repealed.

• To estimate the number of children exposed to chlorpyrifos, the authors combined US Geological Survey land use data and 2016 county-level chlorpyrifos use data to identify contaminated farmland, then applied Census Bureau data for children under five to those specific geographic areas.
• The analysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used GIS software to draw one, three, and five-mile radii around contaminated facilities to identify the number of schools, childcare facilities, and women of reproductive age (15-49) living nearby.
• The study quantified the potential health benefits for children that would have been achieved if air pollution policies were fully implemented, citing that the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (2011) would prevent 130,000 asthma exacerbations in children aged six to 18 and 80,000 lower respiratory symptoms in children aged seven to 14 annually.
• Strengthening the ground-level ozone standard from 75 to 70 parts per billion was estimated to prevent 230,000 asthma exacerbations in children aged six to 18 nationwide (excluding California) and 160,000 lost school days for children aged five to 17 nationwide each year.
• The Clean Power Plan, which was repealed and replaced by the Affordable Care Act, was projected to prevent between 74,000 and 90,000 asthma exacerbations in children aged six to 18 and 130,000 to 140,000 school absence days for children aged five to 17 annually by 2030.
• The Nitrogen Oxides State Implementation Plan (OAR 1998), which covered the District of Columbia and 20 states, was weakened by the Trump administration by making the most stringent air pollution monitoring non-mandatory.
• The 2012 Passenger Vehicle Fuel Economy and Emissions Standards were estimated to prevent 3,500 asthma exacerbations in asthmatic children aged six to 18 and 2,100 lower respiratory symptoms in children aged eight to 12 annually by 2030.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2020). Endangering Generations. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/childrens-health-report-appendix.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Endangering Generations. 2020. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/childrens-health-report-appendix.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Endangering Generations |date=February 2020 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/childrens-health-report-appendix.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2020endangering, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Endangering Generations}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2020}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/childrens-health-report-appendix.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }