Pesticide chlorpyrifos is linked to childhood developmental delays

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-03/cums-pci031810.php

Public release date: 18-Mar-2010

Contact: Stephanie Berger
[e-mail]
212-305-4372
http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/">Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

Pesticide chlorpyrifos is linked to childhood developmental delays

March 18, 2010—Exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos—which is banned for use in U.S. households but is still widely used throughout the agricultural industry—is associated with early childhood developmental delays, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

Findings of the study, "Chlorpyrifos Exposure and Urban Residential Environment Characteristics as Determinants of Early Childhood Neurodevelopment," are online in the American Journal of Public Health.

The study examined the association between exposure to the pesticide and mental and physical impairments in children in low-income areas of New York City neighborhoods in the South Bronx and Northern Manhattan. Chlorpyrifos was commonly used in these neighborhoods until it was banned for household use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2001. It is still used as an agricultural pesticide on fruits and vegetables. The EPA registration of chlorpyrifos for agricultural use is currently under review, with a public comment period scheduled for the coming months.

"This study helps to fill in the gaps about what is known about the effect of the pesticide chlorpyrifos on the development of young children by showing that there is a clear-cut association between this chemical and delayed mental and motor skill development in children even when there are other potentially harmful environmental factors present," said Gina Lovasi, PhD, lead author and Mailman School of Public Health assistant professor of epidemiology. Dr. Lovasi conducted the research as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at the Mailman School.

As in previous research in the same study population, published in Pediatrics in 2006, this study controlled for gender, gestational age at birth, ethnicity, maternal education, maternal intelligence quotient, and exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy. What this study adds is that building dilapidation and community-level factors such as percentage of residents living in poverty do not explain the association. After controlling for these factors, the research indicates that high chlorpyrifos exposure (greater than 6.17 pg/g in umbilical cord blood at the time of birth) was associated with a 6.5-point decrease in the Psychomotor Development Index score and a 3.3-point decrease in the Mental Development Index score in 3-year-olds. "These associations remained statistically significant and similar in magnitude after accounting for dilapidated housing and neighborhood characteristics," noted Dr. Lovasi.

Of the 266 children included as study participants, 47 percent were male, 59 percent were Hispanic of Dominican descent and 41 percent were Black. In addition, children living in neighborhoods with the highest levels of poverty also had lower test scores—a finding that was not affected by pesticide exposure.

Young children have greater exposure to pesticides than adults, since they tend to play on the floor or in the grass—areas where pesticides are commonly applied—and to place their hands and objects in their mouths. Pregnant women exposed to pesticides can also expose their unborn children to the chemicals.

Those who advocate for further restrictions on the use of pesticides, including chlorpyrifos, contend that such chemicals drift from treated agricultural fields to nearby yards, homes and schools, placing pregnant women and children at risk.

"Although this pesticide has been banned for residential use in the United States, chlorpyrifos and other organophosphorus insecticides are still commonly used for a variety of agricultural purposes," said study co-author Virginia Rauh, ScD, professor of clinical population and family health, and co-deputy director for the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public Health. "We hope that the results of this study, further demonstrating the neurotoxicity of chlorpyrifos under a range of community conditions, may inform public health professionals and policy-makers about the potential hazards of exposure to this chemical for pregnant women and young children."

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[KT2000]

1. Janette Sherman MD

has been saying this for about 15 years now. And then it will be decades before anything is done about it. So many more children will be impaired while 'stakeholders" hold up laws banning this stuff. What a shame.

[truedelphi]

2. Oh goodie goodie goodie. One of 80,000 chems and counting

(and the one that is already banned for use around the home) is now being offered up as something to avoid.

Will wonders never ever cease?

[truedelphi]

3. K & R. Good information for people to have.

However, every time the Powers that Be get investigated for one of their poisons, another dozen show up to take its place.

[malakai2]

4. Check out the weekly EPA listserve news release

Every week there are new pesticides registered, new tolerances-that's the residue they're allowed to leave in your food-granted, tolerance exemptions granted for compounds that aren't the official active ingredient in pesticide products, etc. It's all available to the public, anybody can request to be on the listserve. Trouble is, after a while you start to wonder where you can go live to avoid this stuff.

[Well Duh]

5. Dow Has Been Hiding Serious Chlorpyrifos Issues

Dow has been selling chlorpyrifos with the complete knowledge that this product has very serious health risks. They hid tens of thousands of adverse health complaints and well contaminations. As an example of just how far Dow will go to hide the risks of chlorpyrifos I'll give you an example. As stated before Dow has hidden thousands of well contaminations but the most disgusting issue is not the hiding of the well contaminations but what Dow did to hide them. Dow created a "Decontamination Procedure for Wells Contaminated with Chlorpyrifos”. The procedure was to immediately super-chlorinate the well. Dow would not take any samples nor would they allow any samples to be analyzed by their lab of the well water. After 24 hours of chlorination and then purging the well Dow would allow samples to be analyzed. In many cases the well would be “decontaminated” according to Dow’s lab. In others Dow would recommend another super-chlorination attempt. These “other” water samples usually smelled strongly of chlorpyrifos which has a strong odor and taste. Many times the lab would just destroy the sample and not analyze it because it was detectable by smell.

This may all sound like Dow was actually being a good guy to some extent in helping to clean up the wells but think again. First, the super-chlorination was actually causing smelly, foul tasting chlorpyrifos to convert into chlorpyrifos oxon. A chemical 3000 times more toxic than chlorpyrifos but it has no odor or taste. Dow knew this was occurring from their “decontamination procedure” since at least the mid 1980’s but hid it. The EPA was informed of the problem with Dow’s procedure in the mid 1980’s by the State of Illinois but the EPA did absolutely nothing which allowed Dow to continue to use this procedure on thousands of wells. Dow uses it because it falsely “fixes” what would certainly have been a media event and certain lawsuit. Secondly, because they would not analyze the initial well water there would be no “before treatment” chlorpyrifos levels to report. This allowed Dow to not even report the well because they could say it was not contaminated. Devious or disgusting?

Dow internally uses the term “There aren’t any sharp tacks in that box” when the risk of getting caught by the EPA for the things they do is discussed. And, it’s easy to see why!!

Another hidden problem with chlorpyrifos is volatility. Look at that one too.