Respiratory and allergic outcomes among 5-year-old children exposed to pesticides

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Pediatric Health
• Toxicology

Background:

• Limited understanding of pesticide impacts on children's respiratory and allergic health.
• Study focuses on prenatal and current pesticide exposures in a Costa Rican cohort.
• Investigates associations with specific respiratory and allergic outcomes in children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the associations between prenatal and current pesticide exposures and respiratory/allergic outcomes in children.
• To identify specific pesticides linked to adverse health effects in early childhood.
• To inform public health strategies regarding pesticide use and child health.

Main Methods:

• Assessed urinary metabolite concentrations of various pesticides (insecticides, fungicides, 2,4-D) in 303 5-year-old children.
• Collected caregiver-reported data on respiratory (asthma, LRTI, wheeze, cough) and allergic (nasal allergies, itchy rash, eczema) outcomes.
• Utilized multivariable logistic regression to model associations between high pesticide metabolite concentrations and health outcomes.

Main Results:

• High current pyrethroid exposure associated with increased odds of wheeze, itchy rash, doctor-diagnosed asthma, and lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI).
• High current ethylene thiourea (ETU), a metabolite of mancozeb, showed a potential association with LRTI.
• Associations were consistent when pesticide metabolites were modeled as continuous variables; other pesticide exposures showed null or inconsistent results.

Conclusions:

• Current pyrethroid exposure may adversely affect children's respiratory and allergic health at age five.
• Current mancozeb exposure might be a contributing factor to LRTI in children.
• Findings highlight the importance of considering widespread pesticide use in homes and agriculture, such as pyrethroids and mancozeb, in relation to child health.