Autism & pesticides?

By mudlark • July 31st, 2007

There’s been a recent study in California from the Public Health Department that links organochlorine pesticides with a higher occurrence of autism.

Specifically, it tracks the children of women who lived near fields (within 500 meters) that were sprayed with the organochlorine class of pesticides when the women were in their first trimester of pregnancy.

Based on the data given, the evidence is far from conclusive. But this is something we’ll be following. There’s sure to be some follow-up testing that’s a little more broad in scope. But in the meantime, if you or a loved one is pregnant, keep in mind that the little one in the oven gets everything mom gets – whether she breathes, eats, or absorbs it into her skin.

For more information about autism and its more ‘orthodox’ or accepted triggers, see the Autism Research Center.

Comments(2) Health, Pregnancy

Comments

By Sarafu on August 4th, 2007 at 9:08 pm

What is that chemical used for exactly?

By mudlark on August 5th, 2007 at 4:35 am

Great question. Organochlorines are used in pesticides as insecticides. They keep your apples and peaches free of things like worms and fruit flies.

Other organochlorides (some are considered safe for consumption) are used in medicines (like Claritin and Zoloft) and an artificial sweetener (Splenda). I don’t have the background to tell you how safe those particular organochlorides are, but I have found a growing number of people who think Splenda is responsible for a host of health problems.

There are also organochlorines used as biological agents in biological warfare. So it seems that this class of chemical has a wide range of uses, but I’m not sure how ’safe’ the ’safe’ version of it really is.