Is There A Link Between ADHD And Pesticides?

In May, 2010 there was a noteworthy study released which implied that there may be a connection between pesticides and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). For the study, approximately one thousand children were tested for organophosphates. Organophosphates are a group of common pesticides used for agricultural purposes.

The difference between this study and others performed in the past is the fact that the children studied with this test were not all from agricultural communities. So, this naturally led to the question that if organophosphates were detected, where was the exposure coming from? This is a reasonable question because there are laws preventing the use of organophosphates in the home and if the kids aren’t living on a farm, then where are the insecticides coming from?

The most logical explanation is that children are ingesting pesticides through the foods they eat, because organophosphates are commonly used to spray various fruits and vegetables. The study that was released in May 2010 showed that the children where pesticides were detected within had double the chances of exhibiting symptoms of ADHD. In case you’re wondering, the levels of pesticides were tested through urinalysis.

While the findings of this study doesn’t firmly establish a connection between ADHA and pesticides, it does present a strong possibility. This possibility needs to be further researched to determine if organophosphates can lead to ADHD in children.

Exactly what will Organophosphate do?

You may be wondering exactly how organophosphates can lead to ADHD symptoms because you don’t know what these pesticides do. Organophosphates have the ability to disrupt the neurological enzyme referred to acetylcholinesterase (AChE). This is a widely known fact because it’s how the pesticides work on insects. They prevent this important neurological enzyme from working properly in the bugs the chemical is being used to prevent. It has been proven that ADHD can be caused when AChE isn’t working properly.

What can you do?

You’ve probably heard that you should always rinse off the produce you bring home from the supermarket before eating it, but this isn’t all you should do. Just washing off your produce doesn’t guarantee that all the pesticide residue will be removed plus your children have smaller bodies than we do, which means their bodies absorb things at a different rate than ours do. This means that the effect of ingested pesticides may be completely different for a child than for an adult.

Additionally, even if you did get all of the pesticide residue off of the outside of the produce, it is possible that the organophosphates may have penetrated through the skin and into the “meat” of the produce. This is possible because not only are fruits and vegetables sprayed at various stages of the growth period, but these pesticides soak into the soil. This means that the roots of the plant may “drink” the pesticides and disburse them throughout the actual plant. Therefore, the best thing you can do to make sure you and your family are safe from organophosphates through the foods you eat is to purchase organically grown food.