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Environmental threats to children's health focus of CEC symposium

Montreal, 2 May 2000 -- Environmental threats to the health of children
will be the subject of a one-day symposium to be convened in Toronto next
week by the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).

Leading experts from across the continent will bring together the latest
scientific findings on a wide range of environmental factors affecting the
health of children, ranging from air pollution to endocrine disruptors,
from pesticides in food to contaminants in play areas. The participants
will identify obstacles, challenges, information gaps and other themes
common to their varied experiences and suggest policy directions for
governments to consider that would help improve the quality of the
environments in which North American children live.

The symposium will benefit from the participation of many highly
distinguished experts including:

Dr. Richard Jackson, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(Atlanta), will chair the symposium.

Dr. Barry Commoner, described by TIME as the "Paul Revere of ecology,"
founder of a pioneering ecological research center at Washington
University in St. Louis in 1966, will be the lunch-time speaker,
presenting his findings of a soon-to-be-published study on the flow of
dioxins from source to human exposure.

Dr. Lynn Goldman, an environmental health policy researcher at Johns
Hopkins University, formerly a senior official of the US Environmental
Protection Agency.

Dr. Theo Colborne, senior scientist with the World Wildlife Fund,
co-author of Our Stolen Future.

Dr. Graham Chance, former Chair of the Canadian Institute for Child
Health, creator of the "Cherish the Children" concept.

Dr. Lauren Vanderlinden, Ontario College of Family Physicians, and Kathy
Cooper, Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), collaborators in a
soon-to-be released study on standards setting and children's health in
Canada.

Dr. Carlos Santos Burgoa, Director, Instituto de Salud, Ambiente y
Trabajo, and a pioneer in environmental health in Mexico.

Dr. Francisco Valdes Perezgasga, of the Mexican NGO En Defensa del
Ambiente, A.C., author of a paper on the Torreon contamination problem
published by the Texas Center for Policy Studies.

A background paper being developed by the CEC will be available online on
8 May 2000 and may be found, along with other information on the
symposium, including the agenda, on the CEC web site at
<http://www.cec.org>, under "Children's Health and the Environment." The
symposium is open to the public, but space is limited and preregistration
is required.

Where: The Westin Prince Hotel, 900 York Mills Road, Toronto (The Prince
Ballroom South)

When: Wednesday, 10 May 2000, 08h30

NOTE:  At 15h00 the chairman will provide a summary of the discussion up
to that point on the special vulnerabilities of children, major
environmental factors impinging on the health of children, and the health
consequences, to set the stage for discussions on policy implications
through the balance of the afternoon.

The CEC was created by Canada, Mexico and the United States to foster
cooperation among the people and governments of North America in
responding to environmental opportunities and challenges that emerge in
the context of a continent-wide open market.

For further information: Charles Dickson, Commission for Environmental
Cooperation, Montreal, Tel: (514) 350-4308, Fax: (514) 350 4314, E-mail:
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