Neurodevelopmental Effects of Prenatal Pesticide Exposure

Virginia A Rauh, Sc.D., Frederica Perera, Dr.P.H., Howard F. Andrews, Ph.D., and Robin Whyatt, Dr.P.H.
Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University
P01ES009600, R01ES008977, R01ES012468, R01ES10165, R01ES11158

Inner-city children in New York City exposed in utero to high levels of the pesticide Dursban (chlorpyrifos) experienced delays in mental and psychomotor development compared to children with low prenatal exposure according to a study funded by NIEHS and conducted by the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health. Highly exposed children with chlorpyrifos levels >6.17 picograms/gram of plasma scored on average 6.5 points lower on the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index and 3.3 points lower on the Bayley Mental Development Index at 3 years of age that children with lower exposures. These two tests are widely used developmental indicators for young children that are frequently used to diagnose developmental delay.

Additionally, children born to mothers who had been exposed to high levels of the pesticide were five times more likely to have psychomotor delays and nearly 2.5 times more likely to have delayed mental development. Dursban was also marketed under the trade name Lorsban. It is a widely used insecticide although indoor uses of the pesticide were banned in 2000. It is still approved for many agricultural applications. Products used indoors that contained the pesticide included pet tick collars, termite sprays, and roach and ant control systems.

Dursban is an organophosphate insecticide. It works by disrupting acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme responsible for the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine; a reaction necessary to allow a cholinergic neuron to return to its resting state after activation.

Citation: Rauh VA, Garfinkel R, Perera FP, Andrews HF, Hoepner L, Barr DB, Whitehead R, Tang D, Whyatt RW. Impact of prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure on neurodevelopment in the first 3 years of life among inner-city children. Pediatrics. 2006 Dec;118(6):e1845-59. Epub 2006 Nov 20.