Common pesticide may increase risk of ADHD
A commonly used pesticide may alter the development of the brain’s dopamine system - responsible for emotional expression and cognitive function - and increase the risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, according to a new Rutgers study.
The research published Wednesday in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), by Rutgers scientists and colleagues from Emory University, the University of Rochester Medical Center, and Wake Forest University discovered that mice exposed to the pyrethroid pesticide deltamethrin in utero and through lactation exhibited several features of ADHD, including dysfunctional dopamine signaling in the brain, hyperactivity, working memory, attention deficits and impulsive-like behavior.
These findings provide strong evidence, using data from animal models and humans, that exposure to pyrethroid pesticides, including deltamethrin, may be a risk factor for ADHD, says lead author Jason Richardson, associate professor in the Department and Environmental and Occupational Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a member of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI).
“Although we can’t change genetic susceptibility to ADHD, there may be modifiable environmental factors, including exposures to pesticides that we should be examining in more detail,” says Richardson.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder most often affects children, with an estimated 11 percent of children between the ages of 4-17- about 6.4 million - diagnosed as of 2011. Boys are three to four times more likely to be diagnosed than girls. While early symptoms, including an inability to sit still, pay attention and follow directions, begin between the ages of 3 to 6, diagnosis is usually made after the child starts attending school full time.
Importantly, in this study, the male mice were affected more than the female mice, similar to what is observed in children with ADHD. The ADHD-like behaviors persisted in the mice through adulthood, even though the pesticide, considered to be less toxic and used on golf courses, in the home, and on gardens, lawns and vegetable crops, was no longer detected in their system.
A team of scientists from the University of Montreal and Harvard University has discovered that exposure to organophosphate pesticides may be associated with increased risk of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children.
Published in the journal Pediatrics, the investigation found a connection between exposure pesticides and the presence of symptoms of ADHD. The study focused on 1,139 children from the general U.S. population and measured pesticide levels in their urine.
The authors conclude that exposure to organophosphate pesticides, at levels common among U.S. children, may contribute to a diagnosis of ADHD.
“Previous studies have shown that exposure to some organophosphate compounds cause hyperactivity and cognitive deficits in animals,” says lead author Maryse F. Bouchard of the University of Montreal Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center. “Our study found that exposure to organophosphates in developing children might have effects on neural systems and could contribute to ADHD behaviors, such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.”
This study was supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
The study was authored by Maryse F. Bouchard of the University of Montreal and Harvard University, David C. Bellinger, Robert O. Wright, and Marc G. Weisskopf of Harvard University.
There is strong scientific evidence that genetics plays a role in susceptibility to the disorder, but no specific gene has been found that causes ADHD and scientists believe that environmental factors may also contribute to the development of the behavioral condition.
Using data from the Centers for Disease Control, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) the study analyzed health care questionnaires and urine samples of 2,123 children and adolescents. Researchers asked parents whether a physician had ever diagnosed their child with ADHD and cross-referenced each child’s prescription drug history to determine if any of the most common ADHD medications had been prescribed. Children with higher pyrethroid pesticide metabolite levels in their urine were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.
ADD/ADHD Prevention Tip #1
Keep away from chemicals! Buy organic as much as possible, and wash all produce (including organic) with a good fruit and vegetable wash. Just running a little water over it is not enough.
What about food additives and foods themselves? Another good study from Australia, done at Perth’s Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, classified dietary patterns of 1800 teenagers from an 18 year ongoing study into “healthy” and “Western” diets. The “healthy” pattern was high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and fish. The “Western” pattern was high in fast foods, processed meats, red meat, dairy, and sweets.
The 115 children from the study who were diagnosed with ADHD by age 14 were highly associated with the “Western” diet. This brings us to our second prevention tip:
ADD/ADHD Prevention Tip #2
Once again, Keep away from chemicals! Eat a diet high in fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and organic meat, fish or chicken.
Avoid fast foods, processed meats (with their MSG, nitrites, nitrates and other chemical additives), red meat, non-organic dairy (with bovine growth hormone, antibiotic and pesticide content) and sweets (with chemically refined sugars, artificial flavorings and dyes.)
Bottom line is, make sure foods are free from chemicals!
- Pesticides,
- Additives (MSG, aspartame, “modified food starch”, “hydrolyzed vegetable proteins” “dough conditioners” “Mono and di-glycerides” etc.)
- Processing chemicals (nitrites, nitrates)
- Artificial flavors
- Food dyes (FD & C red, yellow, blue, etc.)
Young children and pregnant women may be more susceptible to pesticide exposure because their bodies do not metabolize the chemicals as quickly. This is why, Richardson says, human studies need to be conducted to determine how exposure affects the developing fetus and young children.
“We need to make sure these pesticides are being used correctly and not unduly expose those who may be at a higher risk,” Richardson says.
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Robin Lally
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848-732-0557
Rutgers University
Journal - FASEB Journal