When communities and school districts choose sites for schools near cleaned-up toxic  waste sites or other sources of radiation or chemicals, they are relying on an outdated measure of the health risks posed to children by such environmental hazards, according to a report released today by a coalition of scientists, physicians, cancer prevention specialists, children’s health organizations, and women’s groups. In an open letter to President Bush, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research urged a shift of federal regulations from measuring environmental effects on adult males—the current “Reference Man”—to more comprehensive exposure standards that include children. Currently, “Reference Man” is officially defined internationally as being between 20 and 30 years of age, weighing 70 kg (154 pounds), 170 centimeters (5 feet 7 inches) tall, living in a climate with an average temperature of between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade, and “a Caucasian and Western European or North American in habit and custom.” That standard is widely used to decide, for example, how much residual radiation will be allowed in radioactively contaminated soil, where a new power plant will be built, or how much medical radiation an individual can safely receive. But the Reference Man criterion leaves out an awful lot of people, including children and women, the Institute points out, which is important because children and women, especially those who are pregnant or nursing, are especially vulnerable to environmental toxins. Information about the Institute’s report, “Science for the Vulnerable: Setting Radiation and Multiple Exposure Environmental Standards to Protect Those Most at Risk,” is available at http://www.ieer.org.