The protection of children’s health from the harmful effects of the environment is a high priority for Europe as highlighted in the European Union’s Environment and Health Strategy (SCALE, 2003) and Action Plan (2004).

NewGeneris (“Newborns and Genotoxic Exposure Risks”), a European Integrated Research Project (6th Framework Programme) serving this priority, was launched on 1st February 2006. It is based on the collaboration of 25 institutions (including 3 SME’s) from 16 European countries and will run for 5 years, with a total budget of over 15 million euro.

During recent decades there has been an accelerating increase of the incidence of childhood cancers, especially leukemias. A world-wide increase is also observed in the prevalence among children of immune diseases, including asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and atopic eczema/dermatitis.

There may be biological and etiological links between the onset of childhood cancer and immunological disorders. Among such possible links is exposure to genotoxic-carcinogens (i.e. carcinogenic chemicals capable of causing damage to the genetic material of cells) with associated immunotoxic properties, present in the environment, including food. NewGeneris is examining the possible role of exposure to such chemicals during pregnancy in the induction of increased risk of cancer and immune disorders in childhood. The relevance, for such risks, of analogous exposures of the fathers at the time of conception, as well as of the children themselves during their very early lifetime, is also being investigated.

Recently the new NewGeneris newsletter was issued. It includes an oversight of the project’s activities and meetings in 2008 and it provides a summary of recent research results on chemicals such as acrylamide, dioxins, mercury and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.