How does uranium affect children?
Like adults, children are exposed to small amounts of uranium in air, food, and drinking water. If children were exposed to very large amounts of uranium, it is possible that they might have kidney damage like that seen in adults. We do not know whether children differ from adults in their susceptibility to the health effects of uranium exposure. It is not known if exposure to uranium can affect the developing human fetus. In laboratory animals, high doses of uranium in drinking water resulted in birth defects and an increase in fetal deaths. Measurements of uranium have not been made in pregnant women, so we do not know if uranium can cross the placenta and enter the fetus. In an experiment with pregnant animals, only a small amount of the injected uranium reached the fetus.
