Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Linked to Childhood Developmental Delays

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100319115642.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 25, 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.

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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.

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