Pesticide Exposure During Pregnancy
Links to Learning Disabilities, A.D.D. and Behavior Disorders
Subject: Pesticide Exposure During Pregnancy..........................
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2001 15:07:27 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, the following url is an excellent site with many links and solid research showing
how man-made chemicals are affecting children's brains, their behavior and overall health:.
http://www.chem-tox.com/pregnancy/learning_disabilities.htm - one part of this site is as follows:
SUMMARY OF ARTICLE:
INTRODUCTION
Pesticide exposure to pregnant women generates considerable concern as these chemicals are intentionally designed to damage the nervous system. This concern is underscored when it is realized the total extent to which all of us are exposed to pesticides. In fact, evidence now shows that everyone is exposed to some level of pesticides every second of the day. For instance, in a governmental research project conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Dr. Robert Murphy reported that in a large random sample of the general population, DDT was found in 100% of the blood samples tested at an average level of 3.3 parts per billion (ppb). Chlordane (apesticide sprayed underneath homes for termite control and found to seep into the living airspace) was found in the blood of approximately 95% of the population (1). Other pesticides and chemicals found in over 90% of the population include dieldrin and hexachlorobenzene (Dieldrin is a food pesticide previously banned in the U.S. but is still used on foods imported from other countries). Information from a related Environmental Protection Agency project (based upon6,000 urine samples) identified residues of six pesticide-related compounds, four carbamate-pesticide metabolites,and suspected eight metabolites of organophosphate insecticides (1).
Indoor Air Contaminated with Pesticides
Home exposure is also a major route of pesticide exposure. Many homeowners routinely have the inside of their homes sprayed for roaches or ants with organophosphate or pyrethroid pesticides. In a study conducted by DOW Chemical and reported in Pest Control Technology Magazine (3), it was found that the pesticide Dursban, after being applied to the baseboards, was still present in the breathable air after 4 days at one-sixth the first day air level.
The Majority of U.S. Homes Emit the Pesticide Chlordane into the
Living Air Space
A common misconception among the public is that pesticides used for termite or insect control don't find their way into the breathable air once applied. In fact, the long term exposure of home and building occupants from the evaporation of these chemicals has been found to continue in some cases for many decades after application and has resulted in the permanent evacuation of some buildings.
Chlordane Causes Neurological Disorders - A.D.D Symptoms in 216 Adults Tested
In 1987, over 250 adults and children were exposed to the pesticide chlordane when the wooden building surfaces and soil around their apartment complex was sprayed. Their exposure came from the vapors that entered into their home for the years after the chemical's application. Levels inside the homes were reported above 0.5 mg/m3.
In June-September 1994, 216 adult occupants or former residents of the apartment complex were examined by researchers at the University of Southern California School of Medicine in Los Angeles. The 109 women and 97 men were given a battery of neurological tests to determine if the low levels of chlordane in their apartments was causing any harmful effects. The tests given are considered sensitive indicators of neurotoxicity. To determine if chlordane was in fact causing neurological problems, the test scores of the chlordane exposed adults were compared to the test scores of 94 women and 68 men from Houston, known not to have been exposed to chlordane.
Results of the testing showed many negative effects upon mental function from the low levels of air chlordane. Not only were test scores lower for reaction time, balance, and memory, but also worse scores were observed in the test checking for attention deficits (digit symbol) and all tests of mood scores including tension, depression, anger, vigor and fatigue. A summary of these tests are listed on the following page.
Home Pesticide Flea Treatments Cause Illegally High Air Levels
Applying common flea pesticide treatments to carpets results in illegally high air pesticide levels in homes which lasts for over 24 hours after application. This was the conclusion of research conducted by Dr. Richard A. Fenske, Assistant Professor at Rutgers University.
Tests were conducted by applying the common pesticide Chlorpyrifos (Dursban) for flea treatment by a licensed Pest Control Applicator to three rooms of an unoccupied apartment in New Jersey in June, 1987. Air sampling equipment was installed above the floor at the levels expected for an adult sitting in a chair and that of an infant. After application, samples were taken at 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hours, 3 hours, 5 hours, 7 hours and 24 hours. Results showed that at 5 hours post application, indoor air levels of the pesticide was nearly twice above the legal limit in homes with ventilation (an open window) and over 6 times above the legal limit at 7 hours where windows were closed. Levels at the infant breathing zone was nearly 10 times above the legal limit at 7 hours and over 3 times the legal limit even after 24 hours.
Common Pesticides Cause Hyperactivity in Test Animals after Single Dose
In conclusion the researchers stated,
"The results of this study suggest that at least some herbicides, in addition to pyrethrins, organophosphate, and carbamate pesticides, can produce behavioral manifestations following accidental exposure...The effects of the pesticides on activity also support the hypothesis that these agents may affect the central nervous system."
Dr. J. A. Mitchell, S. F. Long
Dept. of Pharmacology, University of Mississippi
The Behavioral Effects of Pesticides in Male Mice
Neurotoxicology and Teratology, Vol. 11:45-50, 1989
Pesticides Mimic Human Hormones - Reproductive System Damage Suspected
Malignant Mimicry
Scientific American, September, 1993
Dr. John A McLachlan, director of intramural research at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences states, "some of the environmental chemicals that have estrogenic activity also seem to have a long half-life and can bioaccumulate" in the body's fat. One group, he explains, looked at the effects of the insecticide kepone that is only weakly estrogenic. At first, female rats exposed to part-per -billion levels of kepone showed no effects, but after about nine weeks of exposure the chemical reached potent levels, and the animals' reproductive systems locked into a perpetual ovulatory state. The World Wildlife Fund has gathered evidence that some seagulls, fish and other creatures in polluted areas exhibit abnormal reproductive behavior or physiology.
Hydrocephaly & Cleft Palete Birth Defects Occur After Pesticide Exposure
Dr. K. Machera
Laboratory of Pesticide Toxicology, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Athens, Greece
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination Toxicology, 54:363-369, 1995
These studies demonstrate the definite potential for pesticides in the triazole family to increase the risk of lower birthweight, lower body length, as well as strongly increasing the risk of cleft palate and hydrocephalus. With results such as this in test animals, it would certainly be worthwhile to investigate the incidence of these conditions among people living in close proximity to agricultural areas. Dr. Machera did not state if these chemicals were used on residential lawns as an anti-fungal agent. Keep in mind that these studies were looking or physical defects and were not looking for neurological defects in offspring (which typically occur at much lower dosages).
Combining Several Pesticide Ingredients Increases Neurological Damage
Military personnel operating in the Persian Gulf region between August 1990 and April 1991 have complained of numerous neurological complications after returning home. Several theories have been expressed regarding the occurrence of these problems. One definite fact of exposure to potentially neurotoxic compounds is that soldiers used large amounts of the chemicals DEET (a personal insect repellent) and the pesticide permethrin. Soldiers were also given the drug pyridostigmine bromide (PB) to protect against possible nerve gas attack.
In conclusion the scientists stated,
"This study demonstrates that concurrent administration of any two compounds of PB, DEET, and permethrin results in neurotoxicity that is markedly greater than that resulting from treatment with any individual compound. ....Both DEET and permethrin have been shown to produce tremors and hyperexcitability in experimental animals (Ambrose et al., 1959; Schoening et al., 1993).... In addition, these findings suggest the need for additional studies into potential health risks associated with coexposure of humans to these agents at dosages likely to have been used by the Gulf War veterans.
Generating further concern for the pesticide permethrin, is that research has found the chemical undergoes a biological transformation within the human body by what is called esterase and oxidase inhibitors (for the benefit of our scientifically minded), thereby creating a new chemical which researchers say,
"may create unanticipated hazards by enhancing pyrethroid toxicity to mammals.(4)"
In other words, they are saying that this chemical is most likely more dangerous than tests with animals show since the human body can change the chemical into an entirely new and even more toxic chemical."
Well Mr.Helliker, we now use 4.5 billion pounds of your 'registered" POISONS annually just in the USA - If put in
100-pound sacks and laid end to end, they would encircle the planet almost five times! A little "overkill" don't you
think?
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
[Note: Pyrethroids and Pyrethrins are the common ingredients in pesticide poison head lice treatments being used on children. When combined with their other exposures to pesticides used at home, school and the parks they play in... ]
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