Organophosphates and Dumb Kids

Three independent studies published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, show that pregnant mums (Moms to my US friends) who ingest organophosphates before birth will have kids who are less intelligent.

Researchers tested the urine of pregnant women for traces of pesticide byproducts, called metabolites. Then after the children were born, the scientists tracked them as they grew — so far, up to the early grades of school.

"What we found is that mothers with higher levels of pesticide metabolites in their urine had children with lower IQs at age 7," says Brenda Eskenazi, a professor of epidemiology and of maternal and child health at the University of California, Berkeley.

Eskenazi says children whose mothers had the highest pesticide levels during pregnancy had IQs 7 points lower than those with little or no exposure.

"That's equivalent to a 7-year-old child performing like a 6 1/2-year old,"

This would certainly explain some observations I have made on people from certain agricultural areas. I thought they were just dumb. No, they were poison-dumb! 

Think about it. You live in a farmhouse. Your neighbour aerial sprays. Your home's roof is your water collector; it's also a massive poison concentrator as the overspray, windcarried, lands on your roof and is funnelled into your rainwater tank. Don't tell me you don't need a  water filter!

But it's not just country kids.

Scientists at Columbia University studied a specific pesticide named chlorpyrifos, which was found in many household products. Until 10 years ago, many people used the pesticide in the home to kill roaches and other pests — particularly in New York City, according to Virginia Rauh, professor of population and family health at Columbia.

Back then, researchers found it in nearly 100 percent of apartment air samples.

The scientists also measured levels of the pesticide in the umbilical cord blood of 265 children in low-income households. Rauh says those with the highest levels of the pesticide at birth scored measurably lower on tests of working memory and overall IQ when they were 7 years old.

At home we have worked hard and long to remove toxic cleaning products. I still remember my Mum exclaiming how wonderful all the new chemical products were; how much less work she had to do.. she died of cancer 30 years ago.