Pesticide link to child behavior?
Monday, May 17th, 2010
MSNBC is reporting today on new research suggesting that some pesticides may double the rate of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in kids.
Youngsters with high levels of pesticide residue in their urine, particularly from widely used types of insecticide such as malathion, were more likely to have ADHD, the behavior disorder that often disrupts school and social life, scientists in the United States and Canada found.
Kids with higher-than-average levels of one pesticide marker were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD as children who showed no traces of the poison.
The take-home message for parents, according to Bouchard: “I would say buy organic as much as possible,” she said. “I would also recommend washing fruits and vegetables as much as possible.”
As discussed in a previous post “Do our daily routines put our health at risk?” here’s an easy to use shopping guide of which fruits and vegetables to buy organic.
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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anushruti/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Posted in: behavior, food and agriculture, health, organic, toxics | 2 Comments »
2 Responses to “Pesticide link to child behavior?”
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[...] (1) The Washington Post ran an article on the possible pesticide-child behavior link we examined in a previous post. [...]
I completely believe this, I have noticed a change in my kids after eating certain fruits and vegetables and am currently pursuing a salicylate free diet for them. Is there a test that our pedi can run to screen for pesticides in urine?