Many children in farming communities are exposed to higher levels of pesticides than federal regulators consider safe, according to a new study conducted by scientists at the University of Washington, to be published in the June issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. More than half of the preschool children tested showed signs of having been exposed to potentially unsafe pesticide levels during spraying season. None of the children in the study was engaged in farm work, but they were exposed through spraying and through pesticide residue in their homes, as well as through food consumption. Scientists don’t know whether the children have suffered long-term adverse effects from the exposure. UW researchers are conducting further research into the effects of pesticides on kids.
