Toxic pesticides damage children's lungs as much as cigarette smoke

Children particularly at risk of agricultural land
The chronic effects of pesticides are equally harmful to children, such as passively absorbed cigarette smoke, scientists found in a recent study. The pedigrees seem to be particularly susceptible to certain types of pesticides.
What effects do pesticides have on our children? The researchers addressed this question from the University of California, Berkeley. The scientists conducted a long-term study that looked at children whose families worked in agriculture.

Pesticides harm children's lungs such as cigarette smoke. Image: Narong Jongsirikul - fotolia

Organophosphates severely damage the lungs of children
The investigation made it clear that small children do not even have to come into direct contact with pesticides. When children live near agricultural land, they are exposed to organophosphates, which are a widespread insecticide. Such types of pesticides are used to specifically target harmful insects. Organophosphates contain chemicals that affect the human nervous system. The proximity to these chemicals used in agriculture causes children to develop worse lungs, warned researchers from California. The results of their study, the scientists published in the journal "Thorax".

Long-term study of 279 children brings new insights
The results of the investigations are the first indication that organophosphates are very harmful to young children. The chemicals would cause the children to have worse lung function, said Professor Brenda Eskenazi of the University of California, Berkeley. For the large study, Prof. Eskenazi and her colleagues studied the lung function of 279 children in the Salinas Valley, California. To determine how much of the organophosphates was ingested by the children, the researchers collected a total of five urine samples from the subjects, between the ages of six months to and including the fifth year of age.

Spirometry shows: respiratory capacity clearly reduced
At the age of seven, spirometry was performed on the children. This medical procedure is used to measure and record the lung or respiratory volume. It is used to assess lung function. The test tested how deep breaths the children can take and how they exhale that air. After careful examination of the data, the research team found that elevated levels of organophosphate metabolites were contained in the bodies of children. These children all lived in areas that were near agricultural land. The respiratory capacity of those affected was clearly reduced, the scientists said. This weaker breath is similar to that of children constantly exposed to secondhand smoke from their mother, the study found.

Affected children can more easily develop respiratory disease as adults
Every tenfold increase in the amount of organophosphates in the child's body causes lung function to decrease by 159 milliliters. This value is equivalent to about eight percent of the amount of air exhaled by a child. The study clearly showed that the children with the highest levels of pesticide exposure had the lowest respiratory capacity, co-author Rachel Raanan said in a statement. If such reduced lung function continues into adulthood, people at risk may be at greater risk of developing respiratory diseases such as "COPD" (a chronic lung disease), Raanan warned.