Autism and rates of other neurogically-related problems are higher in areas where large amounts of chemical pesticides are used, according to University of California researchers. Publishing in an upcoming issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, the team looked at the addresses in California where 970 women who’d been pregnant had been living, and analyzed that information relative to how many pounds of chemical pesticides had been used within a certain distance. “Proximity to organophosphates at some point during gestation was associated with a 60% increased risk for [Autism Spectrum Disorder],” they write. This finding, they suggest, “strengthens the evidence linking neurodevelopmental disorders with gestational pesticide exposures.”
Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Prenatal Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticides: The CHARGE Study. (Shelton, Janie F. et al. Environ Health Perspect; DOI:10.1289/ehp.1307044)
Also see:
Offspring autism risk linked to pesticide exposure during pregnancy (Medical News Today, June 23, 2014)
Autism Risk Higher Near Pesticide-Treated Fields (Scientific American, June 23, 2014)
Thanks for posting this! I sent this to Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides and asked them to share it! We’ve got to get local media to start covering these studies.
Yes, we need the media to do their job and accurately report the growing body of literature linking SSRIs, pesticides, other meds and toxins during pregnancy to autism in children. My son has autism and I took Phenergan for 5 months for severe morning sickness 19 years ago during my pregnancy. I am convinced it caused his autism, although this has never been rigorously tested. Where is the FDA? Where is the media?
Thanks for spreading the word. Apparently it’s not only the bees…