Products Linked to Mental IllnessBy Julia Murphy When I read about the study published in the Journal of Pediatrics linking pesticide exposure with ADHD in children, I wasn't surprised. As a contractor working on wellness issues with the Butte Environmental Council, I've read many such articles linking pesticides, household products, and personal care items with everything from asthma to zits. But this particular study was interesting in a different way: it combined a mental health diagnosis with an environmental toxin. The study's authors Maryse F. Bouchard, David C. Bellinger, Robert O. Wright and Marc G. Weisskopf examined cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey between 2000-2004 for 1,139 children between the ages of eight and fifteen. 119 of these kids met the diagnostic standard for Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The study revealed that these kids had twice the organophosphate metabolite (i.e., pesticide traces) in their urine, compared with kids with no detectable metabolite (the non-ADHD-havers). Organophosphates are esters of phosphoric acid. They're used as the basis for many insecticides, herbicides, and nerve gases. Some all-star organophosphates are parathion, malathion, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, dichorvos, tetrachlorvinphos, and azinphos methyl. These chemicals work by stopping a key enzyme in the nervous system (cholinesterase) from working. When this happens, a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine can no longer be properly controlled, which results in nerve impulses remaining active for longer than they should. This over-stimulates the nerves and muscles and results in symptoms like weakness and muscle paralysis, says the EPA. -- From www.sixwise.com (6/15/05). To avoid exposure to organophosphates, be aware of the following products often containing these chemicals:
From the abstract:These findings support the hypothesis that organophosphate exposure, at levels common among US children, may contribute to ADHD prevalence. Prospective studies are needed to establish whether this association is causal. The list is kind of scary—especially if you happen to have boy-children, who are four times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. The diagnosis and pathology of ADHD is like asthma, in that it's thought to have both environmental and genetic components; but unlike asthma, which has a clear physiological signature and health risk, ADHD is a series of behaviors. Funny: the same culture that castigates and labels people who show these behaviors that constitute disease …is the culture that condones the use of poisons that help create the disease. When you examine mental health, you realize that 'follow the money' applies as well to this industry as any other. The saddest version of this truism is the medical companies that make agricultural chemicals on the one side, and cancer medications on the other. Who's to say Novartis (which makes Ritalin) for example, isn't investing in organophosphate pesticides? So to recap: We have poisons, which are used by industry to improve their bottom line, predisposing us to behaviors that our culture then labels as dysfunctional, generally resulting in psychiatric intervention/ medication, which improves that industry's bottom line. Never mind that our society may have a borderline personality disorder, for starters ("recurrent self-injuring behavior"). Impulsive, restless people have a disease that must be treated. It's easier than diagnosing and treating our whole society. I'll leave you with two handy lists: the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15. Eat organic on the Dirty Dozen; they're the highest in pesticide residues. Clean 15: you can eat these without overdosing on chemicals you'd rather do without. Dirty Dozen
Clean 15
From the Summer 2010 issue of the Environmental News. |