A recent study found a concerning link between exposure to common household pesticides and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
A team of researchers pinpointed a link between pyrethroid pesticide exposure and ADHD, and the link was stronger in boys than in girls, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital reported.
"Given the growing use of pyrethroid pesticides and the perception that they may represent a safe alternative, our findings may be of considerable public health importance," said Tanya Froehlich, a developmental pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's and the study's corresponding author.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency already banned the two most commonly used organophosphate (organic compounds containing phosphorus) pesticides from residential use between 2000 and 2001 due to health concerns, but pyrethroid pesticides have been on the rise for use in residential pest control and agriculture.
Pyrethroids have been dubbed the "safer choice" because they are not as toxic as organophosphates, but this new research suggests they can impose more consequences than we thought. A rodent study found pyrethroid exposure was linked to "hyperactivity, impulsivity and abnormalities in the dopamine system in male mice."
The recent study looked at data on 687 children between the ages of 8 and 15 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between the years of 2000 and 2001. Pesticide exposure measurements were obtained from half of the participants between the ages of 8 and 11 and a third of those between 12 and 15 years of age. The children were also assessed for ADHD using the Diagnosic Interview Schedule for Children's criteria.
The data suggested boys with urinary 3-PBA, which indicates exposure to pyrethroids, were three times more likely to have ADHS as those without the biomarker. For every 10-fold increase in 3-PBA levels, hyperactivity increased 50 percent among boys. The same associations between these biomarkers and symptoms of ADHD were not seen in girls.
"Our study assessed pyrethroid exposure using 3-PBA concentrations in a single urine sample," Froehlich said. "Given that pyrethroids are non-persistent and rapidly metabolized, measurements over time would provide a more accurate assessment of typical exposure and are recommended in future studies before we can say definitively whether our results have public health ramifications."
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Environmental Health.
