Living near pesticide-treated farms raises risk of childhood brain tumors
Published on Wednesday, March 31, in the
Environmental Research journal, the study also revealed that the pregnant women did not have to be working in agriculture or in close contact with pesticides for health-harming exposures to occur.
Study co-author Christina Lombardi, a public health researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said there are large numbers of pregnant women and children living close to pesticide-treated farmlands. Both mothers and children could experience adverse health effects from their proximity to those farmlands.
The study is not the first to show that pesticide use poses a threat to pregnant women and their children. But it is unique in that it showed the specific pesticides linked to the development of different kinds of CNS tumors.
Research published in the peer-reviewed journal
Environmental Research suggests that exposure during pregnancy to a wide variety of pesticides may lead to the development of central nervous system tumors during childhood.
And the increased risk of these tumors – estimated as much as twice to 2.5 times higher for some pesticides – occurs even if the mother is not a farmworker, but lived as much as 2.5 miles (4000 meters) away from the field where the pesticides are sprayed, researchers found.
“Exposure to certain pesticides, simply through residential proximity to agricultural applications during pregnancy, may increase the risk of childhood central nervous system tumors,” said
Published on Wednesday, March 31, in the
Environmental Research journal, the study also revealed that the pregnant women did not have to be working in agriculture or in close contact with pesticides for health-harming exposures to occur.
Study co-author Christina Lombardi, a public health researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said there are large numbers of pregnant women and children living close to pesticide-treated farmlands. Both mothers and children could experience adverse health effects from their proximity to those farmlands.
The study is not the first to show that pesticide use poses a threat to pregnant women and their children. But it is unique in that it showed the specific pesticides linked to the development of different kinds of CNS tumors.
Pesticide exposure during pregnancy might lead to the development of central nervous system tumors during childhood, according to a study involving researchers.
Maternal exposure to pesticides may lead to central nervous system tumors during childhood
Research published in the peer-reviewed journal
Environmental Research suggests that exposure during pregnancy to a wide variety of pesticides may lead to the development of central nervous system tumors during childhood.
And the increased risk of these tumors – estimated as much as twice to 2.5 times higher for some pesticides – occurs even if the mother is not a farmworker, but lived as much as 2.5 miles (4000 meters) away from the field where the pesticides are sprayed, researchers found.
Exposure to certain pesticides, simply through residential proximity to agricultural applications during pregnancy, may increase the risk of childhood central nervous system tumors. Policy interventions to reduce pesticide exposure in individuals residing near agricultural fields should be considered to protect the health of children.