researchers and clinicians trained in children’s environmental health.” (Reuben 2010)
A number of studies show the link between chemical exposure, particularly exposure to pesticides, and the increase of cancer in children. The USPCP report states, “Cancer incidence in US children under 20 years of age has increased.” (Reuben 2010)
The information from USCP shows that current regulatory systems have failed to protect unborn and growing children from exposure to a massive cocktail of toxic pesticides. This has many serious implications, especially the increase in a range of serious health issues in children and adults later in life.
Developmental Neurotoxicity
Scientific research shows that many pesticides affect the normal development of the nervous system in fetuses and children. The brain is the largest collection of nerve cells, and there are several scientific studies showing that when the fetus and the newborn are exposed to minute amounts of these pesticides, below the current limits set by regulatory authorities, they can significantly alter brain function (Qiao et al. 2001).
Researchers at the Duke University Medical Centre found that the developing fetus and the newborn are particularly vulnerable to amounts of pesticides that are lower than the levels currently permitted by regulatory authorities around the world. Their studies showed that the fetus and the newborn possess lower concentrations of protective serum proteins than adults. A major consequence is called Developmental Neurotoxicity, where the poison damages the developing nervous system. This damage interferes with the normal development of the brain and other parts of the nervous systems such as auditory nerves, optic nerves, and the autonomous nervous system resulting in the health challenges mentioned previously, such as:
•Lower IQs
•Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)
•Autism spectrum disorders
•Lack of physical coordination
•Loss of temper—anger management issues
•Bipolar/schizophrenia spectrum of illnesses
•Depression
•Problems with eyesight and hearingv (Qiao et al. 2001).
This means that contact with chemicals at levels well below the currently permitted residues in food can harm the fetus and breastfeeding children, even if the mother shows no side effects from the contact. Eating food with pesticide residues can harm young children as they are still developing their nervous systems.
Brain Abnormalities and IQ Reductions in Children
Studies conducted independently by researchers at the Columbia University Centre for Children’s Environmental Health, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that fetal exposure to small amounts of organophosphate pesticides caused a range of brain abnormalities that resulted in children with reduced IQs, lessened attention spans and are more vulnerable to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Pastor et al. 2008, Rauh et al. 2011, Engel et al. 2011).
Parents should have considerable concern that the studies found no evidence of a lower-limit threshold of exposure to organophosphates in the observed adverse impact on intelligence. This means that even very low levels of exposure could lead to reductions in a child’s intelligence.
The study by Rauh et al., published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, has confirmed the findings of the previous studies. The researchers used MRI scans that revealed a large range of visible brain abnormalities present in children who had been exposed to chlorpyrifos (CPF) in utero through normal, non-occupational uses. (Rauh et al. 2012)
Exposure to CPF in the womb, even at normal levels, resulted in “…significant abnormalities in morphological measures of the cerebral surface associated with higher prenatal CPF exposure” in a sample of forty children between five and eleven years old. (Rauh et al. 2012) The researchers stated that the current regulatory safety limits and testing methodologies are inadequate for determining safe exposure levels for children.”
It is important to note that most children are exposed to pesticides in utero by the residues in their mothers’ diets.