Pesticide Exposure During Pregnancy May Be Harmful

A new report suggests that a woman's exposure to pesticides during pregnancy may increase the chance of her child developing brain abnormalities.

Researchers at the University of Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public Health chose 40 children — 20 with high pesticide prenatal exposure and the other half with low — born between 1998 and 2001 and followed them from birth, according to WebMD. The children’s’ umbilical cord blood samples were sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be analyzed for pesticide levels.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ Early Edition, shows that prenatal exposure to a pesticide used on many crops may be linked to brain abnormalities. The children with high exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos had irregularities in the outer part of their brains, or cortexes, compared to those with low exposure.

In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned the residential use of chlorpyrifos, but still allows it on crops and public areas such as golf courses, according to WebMD.

Symptoms of pesticide poisoning include dizziness, occasionally the loss of respiratory muscle control, nausea, and death, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

If your child has been harmed by chemical exposure, contact Sokolove Law for a free legal consultation.

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