The researchers suggest that expecting mothers who eat foods tainted by pesticides could innocently inhibit the intelligence of their unborn babies. In a study by researcher Brenda Eskenazi from University of California tested the samples of urine given by pregnant women for substantiation that common pesticides known as organophosphates had been in their systems.
She then started following the women and their children for intelligence tests when they reached at the age of seven. This sagged up the fall in IQ plus lower scores in tests of memory, reasoning and skills. The connection seized even other aspects like socio-economic class and education were also considered.
That disparity could mean, on average, more kids being shifted into the lower end of the spectrum of learning and more kids needing special services in school, explained Brenda Eskenazi. By the age of seven, those with the highest levels of an organophosphate had IQs that were about three points lower than those with the lowest levels. Working memory was also shoddier.
The problem with working memory may interfere with reading comprehension, learning and academic attainment, even if general intelligence remains in the normal range, stated study author Virginia Rauh. The further study also related the crop chemicals with undersized intelligence and showed that a gene carried by some mothers seemed to make their children especially susceptible to the effect of pesticides in the womb.
According to Elizabeth Salter Green, director of campaign group CHEM Trust the foetus developing on the womb is predominantly sensitive because at that time much of the neurological wiring is going on. If that neurological wiring is interrupted this can be seen in developmental affects leading to lower IQs after birth.
She added that children’s brains are not like plugs, they cannot be rewired. Therefore the reasonable way ahead is to replace such chemicals with safer alternatives to avoid such exposures in the first place. However, the Crop Protection Association, which represents pesticide manufacturers, stated the chemicals are extensively tested before and after reaching the market.