A Cautionary Tale About Pesticides

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49558-2000Jun2.html

A Cautionary Tale About Pesticides

Judy Mann can be reached at (202) 334-6109 or by e-mail at

mannj@....

By Judy Mann

Friday, June 2, 2000

Guillette, an anthropologist and research scientist at the

University of Arizona, has been studying the effects of pesticides on the

children of Yaqui Indian farmers in Mexico, and she has come up with

alarming findings.

In the 1950s, the Yaqui had hit a philosophical divide: Some wanted to adopt

modern farming techniques, including the use of pesticides and tractors, and

others wanted to continue with traditional methods. Those wishing to use

pesticides moved to the valley of their region, and those who did not

occupied the foothills. " Otherwise, genetics, cultural patterns, everything

else is identical, " Guillette says.

When Guillette first visited the tribe, the mothers in the valley were

concerned because their children were often sick. She decided to use

standard developmental tests to study the neuromuscular and neuromental

functioning of the children--33 from the valley and 17 from the foothills.

The children were then 4 and 5 years old, and she used play behavior--such

as catching a ball, jumping contests and various mental exercises--to see

how they were faring.

She began by telling them that when they had finished the exercises, they

would get a red balloon. She pointed out the balloon and the color red. All

of the children had been exposed to some pesticides through what they ate,

breathed, drank or touched, but the children in the valley had been much

more exposed. Guillette found the valley children " could not perform the

tasks as well. "

" Well over half of the lesser-exposed children could remember the color in

the object, and all remembered they were getting a balloon. Close to 18

percent of the exposed children could not remember anything, " and only half

could remember they were getting a balloon. " It was quite a contrast, " she

says.

" One of the most profound differences was in their ability to draw a person,

which is part of the IQ test. The foothills children at ages 4 and 5 could

draw a complete person. Among the exposed children, most 4-year-olds just

scribbled, and the 5-year-olds could draw a head and a line or a circle and

a line. I went back two years later. The 7-year-old exposed children were

basically drawing on the 4-year-old level. The 7-year-old lesser-exposed

were identifying people by gender, with a dress or pants, appropriate hair,

fingers, facial features and shoes. "

She also found on the second trip that the exposed children continued to lag

behind in their energy levels and had a much poorer sense of balance. She

had both groups walk a 2-by-4 plank and turn around and walk back. " The

exposed children lacked the balance to turn around and walk back. The

lesser-exposed could. "

On that trip, she surveyed the children for illness during the past three

months and found that the valley children had been ill about six times as

often as the lesser-exposed children in the foothills.

Guillette published her findings two years ago in the journal Environmental

Health Perspectives. Other research is showing a strong correlation between

childhood lead poisoning and poor school behavior and performance, including

attention deficit, hyperactivity, impulsiveness, delinquency and violence.

" The data aren't conclusive, but there's still plenty to suggest that

exposure to pesticides might have the same sorts of effects on children's

learning and behavior, " says Wallinga, a physician with the Natural

Resources Defense Council.

Guillette says she noticed that exposed Yaqui children would walk by

somebody and just hit them. They tended to just sit and do nothing in a

group, whereas the foothill children were always busy with group play. " I'd

throw the ball to a group of kids. In the valley, one child would get the

ball and just play with it himself, " she says. The foothills children played

with the ball as a group.

Veteran teachers have complained that the exposed children are much more

difficult to teach: They don't remember, and they are more difficult to

control. Yaqui mothers from the valley also reported more problems getting

pregnant and higher rates of miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death and

premature birth.

The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that a pesticide compound

sold as Dursban may be more dangerous to people than previously thought,

according to sources familiar with the decision. That determination is

expected to effectively remove the product from over-the-counter products.

Farmers will still be allowed to spray it on crops, but its agricultural use

will be reduced.

The EPA's findings came as part of an extensive review of the safety of

pesticides required under the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, which is

designed to protect children in particular from the toxic effects of

pesticides.

It's impossible to tell what pesticides the Yaquis have been exposed to,

Guillette says. " We know for sure there has been DDT exposure, " she say. The

Mexican government " does not know what's being used. The farmer does not

give out the information. Pesticides are tied to bank loans, and the banks

won't reveal what is being used with certain crops. I just assume

everything. The other problem is they get a little of this and a little of

that and mix it up. It is very important to remember that the situation is

no different agriculturally than what you find in California, the Midwest or

the East Coast in the U.S. "

Furthermore, she underscores the point that half the pesticides sold in the

United States are used in urban areas, which means urban children are also

at risk.

" Many of these contaminants have similar reactions in the body, " Guillette

says. " Many disrupt the endocrine system, which regulates body functions,

and that's the main reason I looked at subtle changes. The shift may seem

slight, but when they occur within a total society, they can have major

implications. To me, the approach should not be treatment of the disease or

trying to teach compensation for the deficit but to look at the basic

problem of contamination. "

The differences Guillette has found in the Yaqui children and in their

mothers should be an alarm bell for the rest of us. It is part of a growing

body of research linking lead and pesticides to poor school performance and

aggressive behavior. Unlike guns or violent movies, pesticides are

everywhere, and lead is present in millions of homes. It is time to include

them in the national discussion about violence.

© 2000 The Washington Post Company