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ADHD in Kids Tied to Produce Pesticides
NEW YORK - Children exposed to pesticides known as organophosphates could have a higher risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a new study.
"There is growing concern that these pesticides may be related to ADHD," said Marc Weisskopf of the Harvard School of Public Health, who worked on the study. "What this paper specifically highlights is that this may be true even at low concentrations." (photo by Flickr user D'Arcy Norman) Researchers tracked the pesticides' breakdown products in kids' urine and found those with high levels were almost twice as likely to develop ADHD as those with undetectable levels.
The findings are based on data from the general U.S. population, meaning that exposure to the pesticides could be harmful even at levels commonly found in children's environment.
"There is growing concern that these pesticides may be related to ADHD," said Marc Weisskopf of the Harvard School of Public Health, who worked on the study. "What this paper specifically highlights is that this may be true even at low concentrations."
Organophosphates were originally developed for chemical warfare, and they are known to be toxic to the nervous system. There are about 40 organophosphate pesticides such as malathion registered in the U.S., the researchers wrote in the journal Pediatrics.
Weisskopf said the compounds have been linked to behavioral symptoms common to ADHD -- for instance, impulsivity and attention problems -- but exactly how is not fully understood.
Although the researchers had no way to determine the source of the breakdown products they found, Weisskopf said the most likely culprits were pesticides and insecticides used on produce and indoors.
Garry Hamlin of Dow AgroSciences, which manufactures an organophosphate known as chlorpyrifos, said he had not had time to read the report closely. But, he added, "the results reported in the paper don't establish any association specific to our product chlorpyrifos."
Weisskopf and colleagues' sample included 1,139 children between 8 and 15 years. They interviewed the children's mothers, or another caretaker, and found that about one in ten met the criteria for ADHD, which jibes with estimates for the general population.
After accounting for factors such as gender, age and race, they found the odds of having ADHD rose with the level of pesticide breakdown products.
For a 10-fold increase in one class of those compounds, the odds of ADHD increased by more than half. And for the most common breakdown product, called dimethyl triophosphate, the odds of ADHD almost doubled in kids with above-average levels compared to those without detectable levels.
"That's a very strong association that, if true, is of very serious concern," said Weisskopf. "These are widely used pesticides."
He emphasized that more studies are needed, especially following exposure levels over time, before contemplating a ban on the pesticides. Still, he urged parents to be aware of what insecticides they were using around the house and to wash produce.
"A good washing of fruits and vegetables before one eats them would definitely help a lot," he said.
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27 Comments so far
Show AllWow, Organophosphates...I had just been to an "homenaje" to Andreus Faber Kaiser, "El Pacto de Silencio".....He investigated the sunflower oil deaths of 1981 in Spain......He discovered that the oil was not the cause of the deaths it was pesticides, organophosphates,allegedly manufactured by Bayer that caused the deaths and almost 20,000 illnesses.....The Spanish Government came out with their "Official Version" to help the Olive Oil Industry and divert attention away from the pesticides. Also, Americans at Torrejon were affected, but none died and they received treatment in Germany...The Americans refused to allow the Spaniards on to the Base to investigate.
Thanks herbert - I had never heard the followup on this story.
Joe
Ya, WE TOLD YOU SO.
It has been three decades since environmentalists first suggested that "because these pesticides that work by disrupting the neurology of the insects, it would likely harm humans too".
My favorite logical point is that "neurotoxins might be neurotoxic". Hmmm, do ya think??
Industry and government regulators [they are fist cousins] denied it by saying "ya but it is the AMOUNT that is important" and then forgot about accumulated AMOUNTS over time that humans get from eating produce every day.
DUH!!!
PS - Herbert - any links on those stories from Spain?
Most "cides" of all types are equivalent to Nerve Gas. So, it should come as no surprise that they create havoc within the human brain.
ADHD can be a real catastrophy and I think it can run in families so there must be some genes that are sensitive to these insecticides. Is it reversible? If we had a Single Payer Healthcare then the Congress that lets these poisons loose on our children would be responsible for thier treatment and care. But responsibility is not what they were bribed to do.
I am Adhd and have had a full and wonderful life.
I had to study harder in school because my mind isn't geared to remembering facts.
I think in concepts and out of the box.
Most people think linearly.
I have a 145ish i q and was only a b minus to c student because of my inability to retain linear info and because of my poor math abilities (except some physics concepts).
As far as I am concerned ADHD is just a way of saying that someone has a creative bent.
I am appalled that kids are given drugs these days because of this so called diagnosis.
I try to imagine myself as a child on drugs sitting in the classroom without figiting.
I wonder what it would have taken away from my beautiful daydreaming mind and my penchant for doodling.
I went on to get an advanced degree in psychology (not easy) and when the drug companies took over that field I switched to community conservation in 3rd world countries.
I had this "concept" in the 80's that it was better to save habitat for endangered species than to put animals in zoos.
Science , at the time, was still tranquilizing and banding animals for "factual" reasons. They still do...but most of the time it isn't really necessary. All you have to do is ask the locals what's up or sit and watch them.
In any case..I am sure that poisons affect the body and brain but I don't think they turn the mind to creative thinking. Something else is going on there.
I have been eating organic my whole adult life bacause I never believed the government when they gave me the "facts" about poison being safe in small doses.
When I was a kid I only knew one person who had cancer. Now everybody gets it. Doh!!
Besides ..non sprayed food simply tastes better.
Oh...I taught school for a while too.
I had 2 kids who had "attention deficit".
When they got too squirmy...I just sent them out and had them do a few laps around the play yard.
Exercise seemed to help them run off some of that excess energy and they were able to concentrate better when they rejoined the class. Much better than drugging them to my way of thinking.
I think that poisons have more to do with what is referred to as "autism" today.
I worked with autistic kids back in the day and what is being diagnosed as autism these days is really something else.
Anyway ... that's my 2 cents.
Hope it gives some (non poisoned) food for thought.
P.S. You can see how my mind works by reading this (unedited) rant.
It goes around and around...from one subject to another.
It works for me.
That's why I hang out with indigenous folks and artistic types.
We all talk concurrently and have great insightful conversations!
"Contact is the appreciation of differences!" Fritz Perls
Well, there are lots of reasons for ADHD, including lousy schools in which nobody would pay attention, lack of exercise and sleep, junk food, stresses, marketing by pharma which tries to increase diagnoses.
But in any case, pesticides are meant to kill organisms who have many things in common with us. Even antibiotics, which kill bacteria, slow down our cells.
I have never allowed pesticides in my house and have battled NYC roaches through keeping clean and tidy, putting all food in glass containers, and using borax in cracks.
Organic foods are really worth it if you can afford it, especially for children. Otherwise you get a cocktail of chemicals, some of whose effects are likely to be harmful. I like when I see a worm in a head of cabbage. If he can survive there, the cabbage is probably safe to eat. And the farmer did not poison the environment, with pesticides at least.
And we wash all fruits and vegetables with a strong spray. We live in an area in which water is plentiful, at least for now, and at least if they do not start fracking shale upstate in our water table.
Joe
Lot to be said about the effects of industrial chemicals on any form of life, not least humans. But a lot of consideration should be directed to those people who consume at least 40% and more of carbohydrates in their diet while simultaneously trying to remove all fat from their diet, the good fat, the fat the brain depends on for proper functioning, because the brain is mostly fat anyway.
"The brain is mostly fat anyway" ...and cholesterol
and how many ADHD kids are basically mis-diagnosed because both parents have to work and are thus desperate for some peace and sleep when they finally DO get home?
So they seek out the psychotropic drugs necessary to keep their children dull and quiet while they get some much-needed rest...ready to face another 16 hour day.
Drugs that are lucrative for the doctors that hand them out too.
No need for parenting. Just declare "being a boy" some sort of lettered disease rather than actually deal with the fact that this little ball of adrenaline needs one parent at home to provide some stability.
Of course, it is NOT a 'family value' to pay the other parent a sufficient wage in an 8-10 hour day such that the two can keep a decent home in a decent neighbourhood.
and I haven't even scratched the surface of how one handles all of this in a single-parent household.
there is a parent rebellion going on out there. I've known 4 couples personally who have refused the ADD/ADHD diagnoses of their doctors and instead made lifestyle alterations to try to pay more attention to their children. In every case it was clear that the pressure to drug rather than parent was coming from more than just one source.
I remain skeptical that these are true conditions for well over a majority of children that are diagnosed with them. Why, for example, are the rates of ADHD so much lower in Europe? (I seem to remember factors of 100 fewer diagnosed.) A place that also buys food from people who use pesticides?
Careful. Telling the truth is always a cardinal sin.
Remember what happened to that carpenter fellow.
BTW a great post. What is ADHD?.(if it actually exists and is not just a tag doctors hang on "uncontrolable and hyperactive" kids){Dont believe me? Look at the list of ADHD symtoms. I think the only thing they missed was the common cold} Enviromental contaminents would be my guess. Electro-magnetic radiation, pesticides and hormones not meant for human consumption must all be contributing factors
Pete
physics citizen, it is my professional and also commonsense opinion that you are correct here.
I am amazed how parents, who are over stressed and schized out, are only too happy to decide that thier child's brain at fault, and not their lifestyle.
I have seen it time and again. I am very tired, so i will simply say,
Good night,
rita
Regarding all the other things that account for ADHD diagnosis, as commented upon by several posters below:
The study accounts for all that. It included everyone. The difference being controlled for was the presence of pesticide metabolytes in the urine. That means the correlation between pesticide exposure (note I'm being careful not to declare it causative, not yet) and ADHD is established regardless of things like busy parents, inferior schools, and male hormones.
Knowing what science is, and caring about its observations, is one of the few important things distinguishing progressives from reactionaries (the latter finding it politically expedient to ignore or deny it). Medicine makes mistakes, and it's easy to spot the potential for that, because overwhelmingly they're found in studies that are influenced by commercial outcomes. This isn't one of those cases. What this study tells us is more study is definitely warranted, and resources should be directed towards it. Malathion was sprayed indiscriminately over millions of children during the West Nile scare. If the value of additional study is pooh-poohed by those of us who still care about public health and safety, who's left? Who will tell the policy makers to stop spraying?
Certainly not the pesticide lobbyists. There's only us.
You're on to something.
A wholistic approach is always best not always accessible by a pure scientific approach.
It would be better to have more neighborhood truck farms and pay the kids to pick the bugs off the beans but I don't think gonna happen soon.
In terms of follow-up studies, it might be good to do some sampling in geographical areas with a higher concentration of agricultural production and a list of pesticides used (surely agribusiness has to keep records on that and report it to some agency, yes?) Not sure who would keeping aggregate data on ADHD in those areas. Or, someone may want to check with the federal community/migrant health centers and migrant education programs to see if they already have some statistical data on pesticide metabolites and ADHD diagnoses.
Alas, even if you banned the use of those products in the U.S., we import so many foods from other countries, it would still be difficult to control exposure. Agricultural chems are big bidness. Still, the stronger the correlation that can be made, the stronger the case for banning/restricting organophosphate use/importation. Then, again, there's also the issue of how well our water treatment clears these compounds.
I can think of, oh, a few industries/govt agencies that would oppose intensive study of this...but maybe some universities might take up the cause.
And I forgot, and this is a researched fact from studies and that is the mother carrying a fetus while imbibing alcohol and/or smoking cigarettes ergo the warning labels on the bottles and pack of cigs.
Face it, there are a multitude of reasons for kids to be mentally or physically impaired all due to the unfettered dumping of toxic chemicals into the environment during pregnancy or the irresponsible parent or mother or after the child is born. And oh boy, if you want to research a source of trouble with developing kids look at what kind of hold or power the carbohydrate and sugar industry has on what they consider is 'proper nuturtion' for the unsuspecting public. Just another public disgrace brought to u.s. by our 'corporate friends'. Don't forget 'trauma' of the blunt force variety.
within the neo-darwinian paradigm of scarcity/competition, what is, is hidden or inverted (from sheldon wolin), war! the winners win and the losers die.
I have been trying to raise awareness of the potential dangers to developmental processes in children. Having been poisoned by our family doctor giving my mother an experimental antibiotic when she was pregnant with me. She developed aplastic anemia and was fortunate that she had a milder form of this idiopathic disease and survived. I was born with serious birth defects that still plague me after 62 years.
I was diagnosed with Childhood Developmental Syndrome. This was upgraded to Autism when it was invented in 1953. I was an idiot-savant though I could not handle the flood of information that seemed to rule m life. I further poisoned my self playing with mercury, drank a can of Hershey's chocolate syrup that was actually paint thinner my mom was using in the kitchen. I had my garage laboratory where I experimented with chemistry. I had a chemistry set that had a Geiger counter and real nuclear isotopes.
Add to this I worked for Texaco oil ten years in my youth and suffer every day from the exposures from benzine's and tetra-ethyl lead that was added to gasoline to raise the octane. Dad use insecticides liberally as he did creosote and other 1950's poisons.
I had no ADD. What I did have was a realization that the chemical industry at that time patented 2000 new chemical compounds every year with out knowing the long term effects of these chemicals on developing children. My wife at age 26 got a cancer that the doctors had never even seen before.
They had no idea of what she had or how to treat it. It was finally diagnosed as a T cell leukemia and a mixed lymphoma.
She died in three years. Her father was a potato farmer.
When I moved to Fresno, CA the Agricultural center of the world, I became aware of cancer clusters affecting children in small towns scattered across the gigantic San Joaquin Valley.
What this did was raise my consciousness about environmental pollutions. My second wife and her father were doctors and educators. I had noticed the increase in the ADD type of physical syndromes. Those 2000 chemical compounds patented that come out every year are mixed to some extent with new chemicals making who knows what and in some cases it was revealed that extremely dangerous chemicals were created that could not be extracted from the soils.
Doctors can't tell you how an aspirin works. The oldest most studied chemical on the planet and the PDR say how it works:
Course of action unknown.
What this all means as shown in a recent issue of national
Geographic that all of us contain at least 200 different toxins.
There is no reason for the creation of civilization other than providing a safe place for our children to grow and become adults.
If children grew fast as in other species, say two or three years there would not need much of anything here today. It is supposed to be for children, yet we give them practicably none of it. On top of that we pollute everything.
I believe from my empirical studies that ADD is a byproduct of uncontrolled releases of dangerous chemicals and our children suffering from a neurological disorder that they will never recover from. My daughter who teaches 4th grade and she says it reminds her of how fellow vetrans started acting after their tour in Operation Desert Storm. Possible nerve gas exposure and experimental vaccines disorders.
This is not science, it is logic. I think we should do everything we can to eliminate every toxic substance that might harm our children.
Will this work. I don't know. But, I do know one thing. Our children deserve to live in the healthiest environment possible. Let's get started now and see what happens. It can only lead to good things. And we all deserve to have the best of everything. Anything else is simply not human.
Just a quick note, we do know how aspirin works and have for around 30 years. It's a COX-2 inhibitor, it blocks a biochemical pathway that is responsible for swelling/pain. The only reason we know this is because it has been extensively tested for use in humans. The chemical that pose the largest risk when released into the environment are ones that companies just assume humans won't come into contact with.
Organophosphates effects on humans are well known, but only in high doses. The effets of persistent low doses are less well known, because you don't get patients coming into the ER with a clear-cut reason like in an acute poisoning. Someone could get cancer after 30 years of exposure to all the chemicals and you would never be able to pick which one, or if it was any at all.
'This is your life' a reality show featuring ordinary people who, by some twist of fate, were damaged by pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, solvents, air pollution, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, vinyls, radioactive elements, coal ash, fracking fluids, coal and mineral mining processes and wastes, oil and natural gas extraction processes and wastes ... um ... and their 'accidents'.
The panel of judges will be agri-chem executives, petro-chem executives, oil industry executives, mining executives, pharmaceuticals executives, lobbyists for those industries and government(elected officials and appointees) ... Their responsibilities are to interrogate each contestant regarding the particular disease, deformity, disability and life experiences and projected expiration date utilizing the standard 'when, where, how, and why' technique or any variation thereof.
Audience applause response meter will be used for scoring. The audience, as a whole and as individuals, cannot have had prior associations, connections, relationships with any of the contestants. The audience cannot brief themselves, or otherwise educate themselves or anyother member of the audience, before or during or after the show. All audience members are subject to incarceration or elimination if any part of any rule/guideline/stipulation is broken, ignored or disregarded in any manner.
Each contestant will be spotlighted along with a general overview of their life activities contributing to their disease, deformity, disability, life experiences and projected demise. Judges will have unlimited time for questioning and harrassing, and intimidating, or none ... remember 'silence is golden'.
Audience must refrain from standing, talking, shouting, whispering, utilizing hand signals, coughing, sneezing, scratching, eating, drinking, reading and writing during the show ... remember 'ignorance is bliss'.
The prizes to be awarded range from short-bus tours of all facilities of all participating judges complete with food, drink and lodging ... meeting or exceeding the high standards of the participating industries, agencies and institutions ... or an all expenses paid tour of the cancer treatment center of the insurance industry's choice with winner being allowed to pay for stay and treatment ... or gift certificates for early cremations.
All other contest rules will be kept secret from the participating contestants and audiences.
All rights are reserved and we maintain the right to change, ammend or delete scenes or information, displayed or cited, by contestants.
So, let's have a nice big round of applause ... and ... good luck!
Good idea.....maybe you should add 'Corn Syrup' to your list at the top...?
There is a herbicide (not roundup) that makes me high as a kite.
I wash all my veggies like apples and tomatoes that have a smooth skin with soap.
I'm too old to worry about but we have yet to reap the real harvest of these damaged little brains when they get into their fifties and sixties.
I am not trying to be funny when I say that little children nowadays scare me. Do you see how they "act"? I have raised hundreds of children since I was ten years old. If ever I saw a child as such, it was exceedingly rare and with simple guidance from the teacher and with parental education the pattern cleared up.
Kids today...scare the shit out of me. They are all hyperactive, violent, selfish whining little dregs and they are totally inconsolable. I for one I think it has got to be chemically induced.
when declaring mental conditions normal or non, to what does one compare?
example of healthy mental attitude, please, taking into account societal acceptance of slavery and genocide and planetary destruction in the name of convenience...
when society is insane, driven by competition and willing to physically destroy and chemically saturate the systems upon which even they, themselves, depend upon for survival to succeed financially, it is not only illogical, but rude to qualify the mental capacities of individuals...
you hand them a world on the verge of physical collapse, an environment irrefutably inundated with material toxic to their very fetal development, fill them as they grow with poisoned waters and foodstuffs and lies and media, then blame them, and drug them with pharmaceutical product, for not fitting in?
fitting in to what?
nobody in their right mind would fit in to today's world...
it is to our own shame that we force them to do so...
those in glass houses...
"He emphasized that more studies are needed, especially following exposure levels over time, before contemplating a ban on the pesticides. Still, he urged parents to be aware of what insecticides they were using around the house and to wash produce. "A good washing of fruits and vegetables before one eats them would definitely help a lot," he said.
That is backwards. You ban first to protect the public. Then if it's proven safe it is released to the public. Furthermore, citizens get to not wash their hands if they don't want to and corporations get to be put in jail for manslaughter or executed for murder.
..."A good washing of fruits and vegetables before one eats them would definitely help a lot," he said."
No. A good lesson on showing respect for human life not treating the public like children would definitely help a lot.
My neighbor and I use to argue about his use of herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers. He killed everything in his yard with a herbicide. I use to tell him he should read the label and recognize it says, neurotoxin. I felt uncomforable when he died of brain cancer. I explained to him that at least three animals had contracted cancer, one nose cancer, one head cancer, and one leg cancer all proving fatal. Animals are a sentinal species. They are actually much more than that, They are vital to our existance.
ADHD and most neurological disorders are probably multi-factor. The diagnostic criteria for ADHD involves objective loss and function and subjective personal criteria. If someone's brain chemistry is damaged by organophosphates they could achieve the same loss of function and subjective symptoms as if they were from any other causes.
Just last week the article on this website said ADHD was caused by eating gluten and other dietary reasons, so their are still lots of opinions to the causes of ADHD. This study however does seem to indicate strongly that many ADHD cases could have environmental links.
A full breakdown of the study:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/721892