That insecticide may affect your child’s development

Identifying the potential causes of behavioural problems in children that can be remediated is of paramount public health importance. Experts in this report by Sade Oguntola are suggesting that some behavioural problems are due to exposure to everyday chemicals, including mosquito insecticide sprays.

The rains are here and so is an increased tendency to spray insecticides to kill mosquitoes. Good as insecticides are, scientists are warning pregnant women to reduce their level of exposure to insecticides, especially those that contain pyrethroids.

In a study, a French researcher team warned that exposure to certain pyrethroids at the low environmental doses encountered by the general public may be associated with behavioural disorders in children.

Pyrethroids are used on crops but can also be found in some mosquito repellents and in products used to treat head lice, scabies and fleas.

Animal studies suggest it causes neurological, immune, and reproductive damage. And, as usual, the human health effects are still largely unknown, despite its widespread use.

Like many types of insecticides, pyrethroids work by damaging nerves, and concerns have recently been raised about their possible effects on children who have been exposed.

The study can’t prove cause-and-effect. But, Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, a child psychiatrist at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan Oyo State stated that it should be of concern given that pyrethroid containing insecticides and pesticide are also on sale in Nigeria.

According to Dr Abdulmalik, “studies have shown that when babies, including those still in the womb, are exposed to some chemicals, it tends to affect their brain development. Some of them end up having behavioural problems like ADHD.”

Although many of these chemical substances are banned for use by man, particularly the dangerous ones, he stated that studies suggesting that pyrethroid-containing insecticide may be associated with abnormal behavioural problems in babies are just coming up.

However, he warned “in everything, there is the need for moderation but it has to be a prolonged or severe exposure to pyrethroid-containing insecticide that will have such an effect, not just one exposure.

“In any case, usually when using insecticide spray, one is expected to cover one’s nose and to leave the room immediately after applying the insecticide to reduce the possibility of inhaling the insecticide,” he declared.

Basically, at least 30 minutes should be allowed before people step back into the room that was sprayed with an insecticide and children are supposed to be kept away from the a room until it is later ventilated.

To ensure babies and children are protected, he advised: “pregnant women have to take the precaution of protecting themselves. Whatever goes into their bodies goes into their blood stream. The mother’s blood is what is shared with the unborn baby and as such can easily get to the baby’s brain.

“Babies that are exposed in the first year of life, including during pregnancy, stand a higher chance of being affected by these toxic substances. And the exposure must be severe, sustained and not a one off.”

Dr Abdulmalik, however, stated that in Nigeria, there had been cases of exposure to paints contain lead that had been harmful for brain functions in babies and children.

Do Nigerians need to worry about pyrethroid containing insecticides and pesticide? Dr Jerome Elusiyan, a consultant paediatrician, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Complex, Ile Ife, Osun State stated that the exact cause of behavioural problems like ADHD is still unknown.

According to him, that pyrethroid containing insecticides may be tied to behavioural issues in children is still a postulate that requires to be proven by different experts.

“The evidence is not strong enough to say that people should not use pyrethroid containing insecticides and pesticides. Further study is required to determine if these insecticides that are now widely used are indeed as safe as people believe.”

Nonetheless, Dr Elusiyan said there was the possibility of many everyday household chemicals also affecting the health of children and as such care should be taken to minimise their level of exposure.

“The breakdown products from these chemical substances can affect the liver, depending on the amount that enters into the body. That is why mothers should always ensure that chemical substances, including medicines are out of reach of children.

“Irrespective of what is written on a medication pack, pregnant women and lactating mothers are always cautioned against taken unprescribed drugs because such could have a negative effect on their unborn babies.”

For this study, the researchers measured hundreds of pregnant women’s exposure to pyrethroids, as well as their unborn babies’  exposure, by assessing levels of pyrethroid metabolites in their urine. At age six, the children underwent behavioural assessments.

Specifically, the higher levels of a certain pyrethroid-linked chemical in the urine of pregnant women was associated with an increased risk of internalising behaviours  such as inability to share problems and ask for help in their children.

Also, the presence of one of such chemical in children’s urine was also associated with an increased risk of externalising disorders, including defiant and disruptive behaviours.

Overall, the study found that children with the highest levels of pyrethroid metabolites in their urine were about three times more likely to have abnormal behaviour.

The study was published online March 1 in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

Previously, experts have also warned that children exposed to higher levels of a type of pesticide found in trace amounts on commercially grown fruits and vegetables are more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than children with less exposure in a nationwide study.

Researchers measured the levels of pesticide byproducts in the urine of 1,139 children from across the United States. According to the study, which appeared in the journal Pediatrics, children with above-average levels of one common byproduct had roughly twice the odds of getting a diagnosis of ADHD.

Exposure to the pesticides, known as organophosphates, has been linked to behavioural and cognitive problems in children in the past, but previous studies have focused on communities of farm workers and other high-risk populations.

Organophosphates are “designed” to have toxic effects on the nervous system. The pesticides act on a set of brain chemicals closely related to those involved in ADHD.