Research Shows Children are Critically Susceptible to Pesticides

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http://www.naturalnews.com/026662_pesticides_health_environmental_health.html

 

A new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives has

revealed that children are dangerously vulnerable to the effects of

environmental pesticides, and for far longer than originally suspected.

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have discovered that

children lack sufficient levels of the enzyme most responsible for detoxifying

pesticides up to the age of seven and possibly for longer. Known as paraxonase

or PON1, the enzyme is the most important defense the body has against

organophosphate chemicals, a major ingredient of the most commonly used

agricultural pesticides.

458 children from rural communities were tested for levels of the enzyme, with

results showing it to be consistently around a third lower than that of the

mother of each child. To compound the concern, more than 40% of the children

tested positive for a genetic type that made them particularly susceptible due

to the inactivity of the enzyme, whilst nearly one in ten had a genetic profile

that made them 'extremely vulnerable'.

Additionally, older children are thought to be around five times more

susceptible to organophosphates than adults.

" What's important about this study is that it shows that young children are

potentially susceptible to certain organophosphates for a longer period of time

than previously thought, " said Eskenazi, UC Berkeley professor of

epidemiology and director of CHAMACOS and the Center for Children's

Environmental Health Research in a University of Berkeley press release.

Of particular concern to the researchers were chlorpyrifos and diazinon,

pesticide chemicals still used ubiquitously in US agriculture. Pesticides have

been cited as a possible cause of developmental difficulties and childhood

cancers. Both the study authors and environmental health campaigners have urged

a complete re-examination of the way in which home chemical products are tested

for safety and of the consensus on acceptable exposure levels.

" Current EPA standards of exposure for some pesticides assume children are three

to five times more susceptible than adults, and for other pesticides the

standards assume no difference " , wrote lead author Nina Holland.

" Our results suggest that the EPA standards need to be re-examined to determine

if they are adequately protecting the most vulnerable members of the

population " .[1]

Activists point to several ways in which young children are at an increased risk

of physical exposure, including more rapid breathing rates, the vulnerability of

having smaller bodies relative to adults and habits such as crawling on the

floor and playing on the ground.

The Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA) has described the findings

as " extremely concerning " .

" Even before these results were known, EPA scientists argued that

organophosphate pesticides -- posing serious threats to children's neurological

development -- were too toxic to be used; we need to ban them, starting with

chlorpyrifos " , said PAN senior scientist Margaret Reeves, in response to the

study. [2]

Green campaigners have suggested eating organically as an important way of

reducing pesticide exposure. A University of Washington study found that

children fed mostly organic produce and juice had only one-sixth of the level of

organophosphate pesticide byproducts in their urine compared to children who ate

conventionally grown foods. [3]

[1] Huen at al. Developmental Changes in PON1 Enzyme Activity in Young Children

and Effects of PON1 Polymorphisms. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2009 June.

doi: 10.1289/ehp.0900870 (available at http://dx.doi.org/)

[2] www.panna.org/resources/panups/panu...

[3] Curl et al. Organophosphorus pesticide exposure of urban and suburban

preschool children with organic and conventional diets. Environmental Health

Perspectives.. 2003 March. 111(3): 377-382.

 

About the author

Jolliffe is a freelance writer based in Oxford, UK.

 

Love, Gabby. :0)

http://stemcellforautism.blogspot.com/

 

" I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or purely neurotypical. Even God had

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