How can manganese affect children?
Studies in children have suggested that extremely high levels of manganese exposure may produce undesirable effects on brain development, including changes in behavior and decreases in the ability to learn and remember. We do not know for certain that these changes were caused by manganese alone. We do not know if these changes are temporary or permanent. We do not know whether children are more sensitive than adults to the effects of manganese, but there is some indication from experiments in laboratory animals that they may be. Studies of manganese workers have not found increases in birth defects or low birth weight in their offspring. No birth defects were observed in animals exposed to manganese.
