Thursday 28 April 2011

In a recent set of studies published in the journal 'Environmental Health Perspectives', scientists have reported that children exposed to pesticides before birth can have IQ levels distinctly lower than average by the time they reach school age.
In California several hundred women working on or living near farms where pesticides were sprayed on crops took part in a birth-cohort study. Researchers tested the pregnant women's urine for pesticide by-products known as metabolites and then tracked their children as they grew. At age 7, those children who's mothers had higher pesticide metabolites in their urine were found to have lower IQs. Some of these children had IQs 7 points lower than those children who's mothers had little to no exposure to metabolites.
Of course, pesticides are not just limited to the agricultural fields of California and many different varieties exist in cupboards and garden sheds across the globe. A study conducted in New York found that the common household pesticide 'chlorpyrifos', commonly used in homes to kill roaches and other pests, could be traced in the umbilical cords of babies and of 265 children included in the study, those with the highest levels of the pesticide at birth again scored measurably lower on working memory and IQ tests at age 7 years. Professor Virginia Rauh who conducted the study emphasised the fact that "this type of thing could eventually effect learning…so even though it's a small effect that might be seen at 7 years of age, when children are just starting school, it could potentially affect the way they read and follow instructions". Despite Chlorpyrifos now being banned for use in the home it is still sprayed on crops and along roadways where people can still be exposed to its harmful effects.