Pesticide poisoning is especially harmful to children since their brain and nervous systems are at early critical stages of development. Because their bodies are still growing, children have fewer natural defenses and can develop serious health effects if overexposed to pesticides. There are two categories of health effects of pesticide exposure. Acute exposure refers to an intense exposure over a short period of time. One example would be a child sitting in the room during a spraying. Low-dose and long-term exposure is exposure that occurs over a period of time.
Acute exposure to pesticides may cause short-term effects such as headaches, dizziness, muscle twitching, weakness, tingling sensations and nausea.
Long-term exposure to pesticides may cause serious health effects such as birth defects, learning disabilities, behavioral changes, organ damage, asthma symptoms and forms of cancer, including leukemia, breast cancer and brain tumors.
Children are especially vulnerable
Due to key differences in physiology and behavior, children are more susceptible to environmental hazards than adults. Decaying cockroaches and mouse dander are among the top triggers in asthmatic children. People with roaches in their homes are 1.5 times more likely to have asthma. People with rodents in their homes are 2 times more likely to have asthma.
Children’s nervous, immune, digestive and other systems are still developing. Developing systems are less able to detoxify and excrete chemicals such as pesticides compared to adults. Children’s systems provide less natural protection than adults. Children breathe in more air than adults, inhaling almost 2 times as many chemicals.
Differences in behavior are also a major contributor to vulnerability. Children spend more time outdoors on grass, playing fields and play equipment where pesticides may be present. Children also crawl on the floor and therefore have full body contact with carpets where pesticide residue may reside. Moreover, children’s hand-to-mouth contact is more frequent, exposing them to chemicals through ingestion. Reducing the use of toxic pesticides will create a safer environment allowing children to be children.
Reference
An Environmental Protection Agency flyer
