Effects of Pesticides on Humans

It’s no news to anyone that pesticides are bad for the environment and bad for human beings. They act as skin and eye irritants, neurotoxins, carcinogens, and endocrine system disruptors. They also pose a threat to unborn children.

Exposure to pesticides can result in nausea, vomiting, fatigue, headaches, skin rashes and itching; they can make eyes sting and water. They may bring on asthma in individuals who haven’t previously had the condition. A 1992 study linked asthma to male adult farmers who used pesticides.

Neurotoxicity can be a lot more serious than simple dizziness and headaches. With short-term pesticide exposure, those afflicted can become confused and lose physical coordination. Long-term, permanent brain damage can occur, including lower IQ and learning disabilities. This is especially worrying in children. Research conducted on Mexican children in the Yaqui Valley in 1998 indicates that pesticide exposure can be responsible for lower stamina, poor memory, and bad hand-eye coordination.

Cancer has been definitively linked to pesticides. The risk to children is particularly high: the list of pesticide-related childhood cancers includes brain cancer, leukemia, soft-tissue sarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, neuroblastoma, and more. Research shows that children are actually more at risk for contracting pesticide-related cancers than adults. Among the pesticide-related cancers adults commonly contract: breast , prostate, colorectal, kidney, bladder, and eye cancer.

Endocrine system disruptors change hormonal balances and may affect reproductive ability. 24 commonly used pesticides are known to disrupt the endocrine system. These chemicals can wreak havoc on children who were exposed to these pesticides in utero. Their effects include endometriosis, where uterine tissue grows outside the uterus and causes pain and reproductive difficulties; other fertility problems; early-onset puberty in girls, especially in African-Americans; undescended testicles, deformities of the urethra, and reduced sperm count in boys.

According to the Toxic Release Inventory program, eight out of 27 most-used pesticides are harmful to fetuses. In addition to endocrine problems, these pesticides cause other genetic defects like behavioral problems and abnormal growth, as well as low birth weight. Children exposed to pesticides in utero may have a greater risk of developing Parkinson’s disease later in life.