A study conducted by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health has found that children whose mothers were exposed to pesticides while pregnant had increased blood pressure and diminished neurological abilities. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, involved children between 7 and 8 years of age in Ecuador. In the study, the children were given a physical examination and a battery of standardized tests for neurobehavioral functions. Thirty-seven of the children had mothers whose occupational histories indicated that the women had been exposed to pesticides during pregnancy, typically by working in greenhouses.
In the children exposed to pesticide in the womb, the average systolic blood pressure was higher than in those who were unexposed (104.0 mm versus 99.4 mm). And around 10 percent of the children had a reading higher than 113 mm Hg, indicating a hypertensive condition.
The prenatal exposure to pesticides was also associated with decreased neurological ability, specifically, a substantially decreased ability to copy figures as part of a standardized test. The researchers said that analysis indicated that the exposed children experienced a developmental delay of around four years.
"These results suggest that more attention should be paid to protecting the developing brain and that we should seriously consider adopting and enforcing a greater margin of safety in protecting both fetuses and children from potential toxic exposures," said lead researcher Philippe Grandjean.
Source: Harvard School of Public Health
