Home : Individuals With LD : Resources : On Pesticides: More Research, More Nasty Effects On Pesticides: More Research, More Nasty Effects
The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow
We are all exposed to pesticides through the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. But while pesticides continue to be used widely in agriculture and in urban open areas, most of the growth in pesticide use is through consumer products. As spring approaches, new research on pesticides might make you think twice about reaching for that bottle of toxic chemicals at your local garden store. While not all pesticide products are available for sale to the general public, most can be applied in households either by the consumer or by a certified applicator.
Since January, new studies of pesticides have shown:
heightened sensitivity of children to organophosphate pesticides
increased risk of cancer in children exposed to organochlorine pesticides in the womb
that insecticidal pesticides in lice shampoo may increase the risk of leukemia in kids
that exposure to pesticides lowers IQs and affects performance
maternal exposure to organochlorine pesticides has been linked to cryptorchidism (undescended testicles) in baby boys
In a study of Latina mothers and their babies, researchers from UC Berkeley at the Salinas-based Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children, analyzed the enzymes needed to break down two organophosphate pesticides - diazinon and chlorpyrifos. The researchers found that some newborns may be 26 times more susceptible to diazinon exposure than newborns with the highest level of the enzyme, and 65 times more susceptible than adults with the highest enzyme levels. With chlorpyrifos, some of the newborns may be 50 times more susceptible than newborns with high enzyme levels and 130 to 164 times more susceptible than some of the adults. The enzyme typically reaches adult levels by the time children reach 2 years old.[i]
A Liverpool University review of the evidence published in the Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine found that the dangers of pesticides for children have been underestimated. The paper examined the evidence that organochlorine pesticides to which people are exposed to through food, air and water, can affect hormone production, leading to hormone-dependent malignancies, such as breast, testicular and prostate cancers.
In a French study published in the latest issue of the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, researchers compared exposures to a variety of pesticides, as recalled by the mother, among children with leukemia and those without the disease. They concluded that the risk of developing acute leukemia was almost twice as high in children whose mothers reported using insecticides in the home while pregnant and when their children were small (including use of insecticidal shampoos to treat head lice and exposure to garden insecticides).
Moulton and Petros, researchers from the University of North Dakota found that children living on or near farms tested an average of five points lower on standard IQ tests and faired more poorly on tests of verbal comprehension, visual perceptual reasoning, memory and mental processing speed than their less exposed children. The findings were presented to the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health in Fargo in March.
Danish researchers found that, consistent with animal studies, prenatal exposure to eight organochlorine pesticides (in combination) measured through the mother's breast milk may have adverse impact on the testicular descent of baby boys.[ii]
How many more studies do we need to take action? Dr. Theo Colborne who wrote "Our Stolen Future" states in a January article that "To protect human health, […] a new regulatory approach is also needed that takes into consideration this vast new knowledge about the neurodevelopmental effects of pesticides, not allowing the uncertainty that accompanies scientific research to serve as an impediment to protective actions.[iii] While we work towards this new regulatory approach, use your consumer power and avoid using pesticides, and educate your friends and neighbors!
[i] Furlong et al. (2006) PON1 Status of Farmworker Mothers and Children as a Predictor of Organophosphate Sensitivity. Pharmacogenetics and Genomics, 2006 Vol. 16 No.3 pp.183-190
[ii] Damgaard et al. (2006) Persistent Pesticides in Human Breast Milk
and Cryptorchidism, Environmental Health Perspectives, February 27, 2006. http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/8741/8741.pdf
[iii] Colborne, Theo (2006) A Case for Revisiting the Safety of Pesticides: A Closer Look at Neurodevelopment, Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 114, Number 1, January 2006, http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/7940/7940.html
The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (AHT) is a coalition of citizens, scientists, health professionals, workers, and educators seeking preventive action on toxic hazards.
