NIOSHTIC-2 Publications Search

Child labor.

Landrigan PJ; Pollack SH; Belville R

Environmental and occupational medicine, second edition. Rom WN, ed. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1992 Jan; :1365-1370

00223344

Child labor, or the paid employment of children under 18 years (yr) of age, was discussed. While child labor is a major international problem, it is also still common in the United States despite federal and state legislation. The history of child labor and the legislation enacted to protect children in the United States was traced. The disadvantages of child labor fall into two categories: threats to education and development; and risks of injury, illness, and toxic exposure. Employed children have too little time for homework, and academic performance declines. Health risks include injuries, particularly in the food industry. From 1980 to 1987, 10,047 workers' compensation awards were made in New York State to children under 18yr of age. Toxic occupational exposures cause chronic illnesses such as asthma, and exposure in early life may lead to later malignancies such as mesothelioma. Rural children are employed extensively in agriculture, and suffer hazards associated with farm machinery such as lacerations, crush injuries, and amputations. The authors conclude that child labor has reemerged as a serious health hazard in the United States, and recommend steps for the prevention of injury and illness in working children.

NIOSH-Grant; Traumatic-injuries; Carcinogens; Epidemiology; Farmers; Miners; Injury-prevention; Occupational-exposure; Occupational-hazards; Children; Regulations

Community Medicine Mount Sinai School of Medicine One Gustave L Levy Place New York, NY 10029

19920101

Chapter

Rom WN

118001

Grant

1992

9780316755672

Grant-Number-R01-OH-002717

OECSP

Environmental and occupational medicine, second edition

NY; MA; GA

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York