Potential short-term neurobehavioral alterations in children associated with a peak pesticide spray season: The Mother's Day flower harvest in Ecuador

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Neurotoxicology
• Personal Author:
  Suarez-Lopez, Jose R. ; Checkoway, Harvey ; Jacobs, David R. ; Al-Delaimy, Wael K. ; Gahagan, Sheila
• Description:
  Background
  
  Exposures to cholinesterase inhibitor pesticides (e.g. organophosphates) have been associated with children's neurobehavioral alterations, including attention deficit and impulsivity. Animal studies have observed transient alterations in neurobehavioral performance in relation to cholinesterase inhibitor pesticide exposures; however, limited evidence exists regarding transient effects in humans.
  
  Methods
  
  We estimated the associations between neurobehavioral performance and time after Mother's Day flower harvest (the end of a heightened pesticide usage period) among 308 4-to 9-year-old children living in floricultural communities in Ecuador in 2008 who participated in the ESPINA study. Children's neurobehavior was examined once (NEPSY-II: 11 subtests covering 5 domains), between 63-100 days (SD: 10.8 days) after Mother's Day harvest (blood acetylcholinesterase activity levels can take 82 days to normalize after irreversible inhibition with organophosphates).
  
  Results
  
  The mean (SD) neurobehavioral scaled scores across domains ranged from 6.6 (2.4) to 9.9 (3.3); higher values reflect greater performance. Children examined sooner after Mother's Day had lower neurobehavioral scores than children examined later, in the domains of (score difference per 10.8 days, 95%CI): Attention/Inhibitory Control (0.38, 0.10-0.65), Visuospatial Processing (0.60, 0.25-0.95) and Sensorimotor (0.43, 0.10-0.77). Scores were higher with longer time post-harvest among girls (vs. boys) in Attention/Inhibitory Control.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Our findings, although cross-sectional, are among the first in non-worker children to suggest that a peak pesticide use period may transiently affect neurobehavioral performance, as children examined sooner after the flower harvest had lower neurobehavioral performance than children examined later. Studies assessing pre- and post-exposure measures are needed.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Acetylcholinesterase Attention Child Child, Preschool Cholinesterase Inhibitors Cross-Sectional Studies Developmental Disabilities Ecuador Environmental Exposure Executive Function Female Humans Inhibition, Psychological Learning Male Memory Neuropsychological Tests Organophosphate Poisoning Pesticides Psychomotor Performance Seasons

  More +
• Keywords:
  Acute Children Cholinesterase Neurobehavior Pesticides Transient
• Source:
  Neurotoxicology. 60:125-133
• Pubmed ID:
  28188819
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5447476
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R01 ES025792/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R21 ES026084/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R36 OH009402/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  60
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:96c6c5ea9f6c2a405a4a81d3711a6bdabe44ac55637cf94e434b0a2d3d6b118f87a1cd94841a151c0bd57a52d682dbad4070c28bd693109a1cc9ac42e7b40dc3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/45936/cdc_45936_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 594.46 KB ]